RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Geometric principles underlying the proliferation of a model cell system
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 843979
DO 10.1101/843979
A1 Ling Juan Wu
A1 Seoungjun Lee
A1 Sungshic Park
A1 Lucy E. Eland
A1 Anil Wipat
A1 Seamus Holden
A1 Jeff Errington
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/18/843979.abstract
AB Wall deficient variants of many bacteria, called L-forms, divide by a simple mechanism that does not depend on the complex FtsZ-based cell division machine. We have used microfluidic systems to probe the growth, chromosome cycle and division mechanism of Bacillus subtilis L-forms. The results show that forcing cells into a narrow linear configuration greatly improves the efficiency of cell growth and chromosome segregation. This reinforces the view that L-form division is driven by an excess accumulation of surface area over volume. Cell geometry was also found to play a dominant role in controlling the relative positions and movement of segregating chromosomes. The presence of the nucleoid appears to influence division both via a cell volume effect and by nucleoid occlusion, even in the absence of the FtsZ machine. Overall, our results emphasise the importance of geometric effects for a range of critical cell functions and are of relevance for efforts to develop artificial or minimal cell systems.