This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental material Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Judd, E. M. Articles by McAdams, H. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Judd, E. M. Articles by McAdams, H. H.

Distinct Constrictive Processes, Separated in Time and Space, Divide Caulobacter Inner and Outer Membranes

Ellen M. Judd,^1,3, Luis R. Comolli,^4, Joseph C. Chen,³ Kenneth H. Downing,⁴ W. E. Moerner,² and Harley H. McAdams^3*

Departments of Applied Physics,¹ Chemistry, Stanford University,² Department of Developmental Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305,³ Life Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720⁴

Received 18 April 2005/ Accepted 25 July 2005

Cryoelectron microscope tomography (cryoEM) and a fluorescence loss in photobleaching (FLIP) assay were used to characterize progression of the terminal stages of Caulobacter crescentus cell division. Tomographic cryoEM images of the cell division site show separate constrictive processes closing first the inner membrane (IM) and then the outer membrane (OM) in a manner distinctly different from that of septum-forming bacteria. FLIP experiments had previously shown cytoplasmic compartmentalization (when cytoplasmic proteins can no longer diffuse between the two nascent progeny cell compartments) occurring 18 min before daughter cell separation in a 135-min cell cycle so the two constrictive processes are separated in both time and space. In the very latest stages of both IM and OM constriction, short membrane tether structures are observed. The smallest observed prefission tethers were 60 nm in diameter for both the inner and outer membranes. Here, we also used FLIP experiments to show that both membrane-bound and periplasmic fluorescent proteins diffuse freely through the FtsZ ring during most of the constriction procession.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

Equal contributions.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Radhakrishnan, S. K., Thanbichler, M., Viollier, P. H. (2008). The dynamic interplay between a cell fate determinant and a lysozyme homolog drives the asymmetric division cycle of Caulobacter crescentus. Genes Dev. 22: 212-225 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Goley, E. D., Iniesta, A. A., Shapiro, L. (2007). Cell cycle regulation in Caulobacter: location, location, location. J. Cell Sci. 120: 3501-3507 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Wagner, J. K., Setayeshgar, S., Sharon, L. A., Reilly, J. P., Brun, Y. V. (2006). From the Cover: A nutrient uptake role for bacterial cell envelope extensions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 11772-11777 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• McAdams, H. H. (2006). Bacterial stalks are nutrient-scavenging antennas. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 11435-11436 [Full Text]  
• Jensen, R. B. (2006). Coordination between Chromosome Replication, Segregation, and Cell Division in Caulobacter crescentus. J. Bacteriol. 188: 2244-2253 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Maddock, J. R. (2005). High-Resolution Anatomy of a Progressively Pinching Cell Division. J. Bacteriol. 187: 6867-6869 [Full Text]