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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2000, p. 6203-6213, Vol. 182, No. 21
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Deletion of the min Operon Results in Increased Thermosensitivity of an ftsZ84 Mutant and Abnormal FtsZ Ring Assembly, Placement, and Disassembly

Xuan-Chuan Yu and William Margolin*

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas-Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030

Received 22 May 2000/Accepted 28 July 2000

To investigate the interaction between FtsZ and the Min system during cell division of Escherichia coli, we examined the effects of combining a well-known thermosensitive mutation of ftsZ, ftsZ84, with Delta minCDE, a deletion of the entire min locus. Because the Min system is thought to down-regulate Z-ring assembly, the prediction was that removing minCDE might at least partially suppress the thermosensitivity of ftsZ84, which can form colonies below 42°C but not at or above 42°C. Contrary to expectations, the double mutant was significantly more thermosensitive than the ftsZ84 single mutant. When shifted to the new lower nonpermissive temperature, the double mutant formed long filaments mostly devoid of Z rings, suggesting a likely cause of the increased thermosensitivity. Interestingly, even at 22°C, many Z rings were missing in the double mutant, and the rings that were present were predominantly at the cell poles. Of these, a large number were present only at one pole. These cells exhibited a higher than expected incidence of polar divisions, with a bias toward the newest pole. Moreover, some cells exhibited dramatically elongated septa that stained for FtsZ, suggesting that the double mutant is defective in Z-ring disassembly, and providing a possible mechanism for the polar bias. Thermoresistant suppressors of the double mutant arose that had modestly increased levels of FtsZ84. These cells also exhibited elongated septa and, in addition, produced a high frequency of branched cells. A thermoresistant suppressor of the ftsZ84 single mutant also synthesized more FtsZ84 and produced branched cells. The evidence from this study indicates that removing the Min system exposes and exacerbates the inherent defects of the FtsZ84 protein, resulting in clear septation phenotypes even at low growth temperatures. Increasing levels of FtsZ84 can suppress some, but not all, of these phenotypes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Medical School, 6431 Fannin, Houston, TX 77030. Phone: (713) 500-5452. Fax: (713) 500-5499. E-mail: William.Margolin{at}uth.tmc.edu-Houston.

Journal of Bacteriology, November 2000, p. 6203-6213, Vol. 182, No. 21
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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