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Our work seeks to answer this question in a highly tractable model system,
the soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis.
All cells precisely control division to ensure that daughter cells are the
correct size and shape and that each receives a complete genome. A short
generation time--approximately 20 minutes under ideal growth
conditions--coupled with the ease of genetic manipulation, makes B.
subtilis an excellent system in which to study cytokinesis.
The focus of our research is the highly conserved tubulin homolog FtsZ. In
response to an unidentified cell cycle signal FtsZ assembles into a ring
structure that serves as a framework for assembly of the division
apparatus. The FtsZ ring remains in place until a second unidentified
signal stimulates constriction of the ring at the leading edge of the
invaginating septum.
Our goals are:
- To identify components of the regulatory network responsible for
modulating FtsZ assembly.
- To employ genetics, cell biology, and biochemistry to understand how
these factors act in concert to control cytokinesis.
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A chain of six Bacillus subtilis cells stained with flourescently tagged antibodies against two components of the division apparatus.
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