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Regulation of cytokinesis: FtsZ and its accessory proteins

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Abstract

Bacterial cell division is a highly controlled process regulated accurately by a diverse array of proteins spatially and temporally working together. Among these proteins, FtsZ is recognized as a cytoskeleton protein because it can assemble into a ring-like structure called Z-ring at midcell. Z-ring recruits downstream proteins, thus forming a multiprotein complex termed the divisome. When the Z-ring scaffold is established and the divisome matures, peptidoglycan (PG) biosynthesis and chromosome segregation are triggered. In this review, we focus on multiple interactions between FtsZ and its accessory proteins in bacterial cell cytokinesis, including FtsZ localization, Z-ring formation and stabilization, PG biosynthesis, and chromosome segregation. Understanding the interactions among these proteins may help discover superior targets on treating bacterial infectious diseases.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81673477, 81471997 and 81001460).

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  1. Mingzhi Wang, Chao Fang, and Bo Ma contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, China

    Mingzhi Wang, Chao Fang, Bo Ma, Xiaoxing Luo & Zheng Hou

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  1. Mingzhi Wang
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  2. Chao Fang
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  3. Bo Ma
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  4. Xiaoxing Luo
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Correspondence to Zheng Hou.

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Wang, M., Fang, C., Ma, B. et al. Regulation of cytokinesis: FtsZ and its accessory proteins. Curr Genet 66, 43–49 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-019-01005-6

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