Origin of Contractile Force during Cell Division of Bacteria

Biplab Ghosh and Anirban Sain
Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 178101 – Published 20 October 2008
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

When a bacterium divides, its cell wall at the division site grows radially inward like the shutter of a camera and guillotines the cell into two halves. The wall is pulled upon from inside by a polymeric ring, which itself shrinks in radius. The ring is made of an intracellular protein FtsZ (filamenting temperature sensitive Z) and thus is called the Z ring. It is not understood how the Z ring generates the required contractile force. We propose a theoretical model and simulate it to show how the natural curvature of the FtsZ filaments and lateral attraction among them may facilitate force generation.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 17 October 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.178101

©2008 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Biplab Ghosh1,2 and Anirban Sain1,*

  • 1Physics Department, Indian Institute of Technology–Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India
  • 2Theoretical Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Trombay, Mumbai 400085, India

  • *asain@phy.iitb.ac.in

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 101, Iss. 17 — 24 October 2008

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×