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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2002, p. 695-705, Vol. 184, No. 3
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.3.695-705.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Analysis of ftsQ Mutant Alleles in Escherichia coli: Complementation, Septal Localization, and Recruitment of Downstream Cell Division Proteins

Joseph C. Chen, Michael Minev, and Jon Beckwith*

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Received 24 August 2001/ Accepted 6 November 2001

FtsQ, a 276-amino-acid, bitopic membrane protein, is one of the nine proteins known to be essential for cell division in gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli. To define residues in FtsQ critical for function, we performed random mutagenesis on the ftsQ gene and identified four alleles (ftsQ2, ftsQ6, ftsQ15, and ftsQ65) that fail to complement the ftsQ1(Ts) mutation at the restrictive temperature. Two of the mutant proteins, FtsQ6 and FtsQ15, are functional at lower temperatures but are unable to localize to the division site unless wild-type FtsQ is depleted, suggesting that they compete poorly with the wild-type protein for septal targeting. The other two mutants, FtsQ2 and FtsQ65, are nonfunctional at all temperatures tested and have dominant-negative effects when expressed in an ftsQ1(Ts) strain at the permissive temperature. FtsQ2 and FtsQ65 localize to the division site in the presence or absence of endogenous FtsQ, but they cannot recruit downstream cell division proteins, such as FtsL, to the septum. These results suggest that FtsQ2 and FtsQ65 compete efficiently for septal targeting but fail to promote the further assembly of the cell division machinery. Thus, we have separated the localization ability of FtsQ from its other functions, including recruitment of downstream cell division proteins, and are beginning to define regions of the protein responsible for these distinct capabilities.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 432-1920. Fax: (617) 738-7664. E-mail: jbeckwith{at}hms.harvard.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2002, p. 695-705, Vol. 184, No. 3
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.3.695-705.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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