How do cells determine when and where to divide?
Our work seeks to answer this question in a highly tractable model system, the soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis.
Septum formation in B. 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.
FtsZ ring formation during the cell cycle
FtsZ (red)
Cell wall (green)
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.
