ArticleJournal of bacteriology2008
The Min system as a general cell geometry detection mechanism: branch lengths in Y-shaped Escherichia coli cells affect Min oscillation patterns and division dynamics.
Article in Journal of bacteriology, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- Mimicking Cellular Membranes With Micropatterned Lipid Bilayers.Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry · 2026Article
- Chromosome segregation dynamics during the cell cycle of Staphylococcus aureus.Nature communications · 2025Article
- E. coli filament buckling modulates Min patterning and cell division.Nature communications · 2025Article
- The mechanism of MinD stability modulation by MinE in Min protein dynamics.PLoS computational biology · 2023Article
- Feedback linking cell envelope stiffness, curvature, and synthesis enables robust rod-shaped bacterial growth.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- The E. coli MinCDE system in the regulation of protein patterns and gradients.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2019Review
- Division plane placement in pleomorphic archaea is dynamically coupled to cell shape.Molecular microbiology · 2019Article
- The Min-protein oscillations inPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Review
- Self-organization principles of intracellular pattern formation.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Review
- Effects of geometry and topography on Min-protein dynamics.PloS one · 2018Article
- Characterization of C-terminal structure of MinC and its implication in evolution of bacterial cell division.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Article
- Multistability and dynamic transitions of intracellular Min protein patterns.Molecular systems biology · 2016Article
- Geometry-induced protein pattern formation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2016Article
- Stochasticity and homeostasis in the E. coli replication and division cycle.Scientific reports · 2015Article
- Symmetry and scale orient Min protein patterns in shaped bacterial sculptures.Nature nanotechnology · 2015Article
- Article
- The Min system and other nucleoid-independent regulators of Z ring positioning.Frontiers in microbiology · 2015Review
- Reconstitution of self-organizing protein gradients as spatial cues in cell-free systems.eLife · 2014Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
In Escherichia coli, division site placement is regulated by the dynamic behavior of the MinCDE proteins, which oscillate from pole to pole and confine septation to the centers of normal rod-shaped cells. Some current mathematical models explain these oscillations by considering interactions among the Min proteins without recourse to additional localization signals. So far, such models have been applied only to regularly shaped bacteria, but here we test these models further by employing aberrantly shaped E. coli cells as miniature reactors. The locations of MinCDE proteins fused to derivatives of green fluorescent protein were monitored in branched cells with at least three conspicuous poles. MinCDE most often moved from one branch to another in an invariant order, following a nonreversing clockwise or counterclockwise direction over the time periods observed. In cells with two short branches or nubs, the proteins oscillated symmetrically from one end to the other. The locations of FtsZ rings were consistent with a broad MinC-free zone near the branch junctions, and Min rings exhibited the surprising behavior of moving quickly from one possible position to another. Using a reaction-diffusion model that reproduces the observed MinCD oscillations in rod-shaped and round E. coli, we predict that the oscillation patterns in branched cells are a natural response of Min behavior in cellular geometries having different relative branch lengths. The results provide further evidence that Min protein oscillations act as a general cell geometry detection mechanism that can locate poles even in branched cells.
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