LK11352
A MECHANISM FOR BACTERIAL CELL DIVISION
In this work we proposed a new molecular mechanism which may
be responsible for driving cell division in bacteria. It is
well known that in a common bacteria like Eucherichia coli,
during its division, the cell wall at the division site grows
radially inward like the shutter of a camera and guillotins
the cell into two daughters. The wall is believed to be pulled
upon from inside by a polymeric ring which itself shrinks in
radius. The ring is made of short filaments of an intracellular
protein called FtsZ, but it is not understood why the ring
contracts or equivalently how it generates the required
contractile force. We propose a theoretical model and simulate
it to show how force generation may result from the natural
curvature of the FtsZ filaments, lateral attraction among
them and conversion of GTP into GDP (hydrolysis), which is
ubuiquitous in most cellular phenomena. Understanding the
detailed mechanism that drives the contraction of the ring
may help design new class of antibiotics which can block the
contrcation and thereby halt bacterial proliferation.
