An essential Staphylococcus aureus cell division protein directly regulates FtsZ dynamics

• Published in: eLife Vol. 7
• Main Authors: Eswara, Prahathees J, Brzozowski, Robert S, Viola, Marissa G, Graham, Gianni, Spanoudis, Catherine, Trebino, Catherine, Jha, Jyoti, Aubee, Joseph I, Thompson, Karl M, Camberg, Jodi L, Ramamurthi, Kumaran S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 02.10.2018; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Cell division; Cell Division - genetics; Cytokinesis; Cytoskeletal Proteins - genetics; Cytoskeletal Proteins - metabolism; DivIVA; EzrA; Filaments; Genes, Essential - genetics; Gram-positive bacteria; Green Fluorescent Proteins - genetics; Green Fluorescent Proteins - metabolism; GTP Phosphohydrolases - genetics; GTP Phosphohydrolases - metabolism; Guanosine triphosphatases; Guanosine Triphosphate - metabolism; Humans; Hydrolysis; Kinases; Laboratories; Lysis; Microbiology and Infectious Disease; Microscopy; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Min system; MinCDE; Molecular biology; PBP1; peptidoglycan; Polymers; Protein Binding; Proteins; Regulatory proteins; Staphylococcal Infections - microbiology; Staphylococcus aureus; Staphylococcus aureus - genetics; Staphylococcus aureus - metabolism; Streptococcus infections; Time-Lapse Imaging - methods; Virulence Factors - genetics; Virulence Factors - metabolism; United States > US; B. subtilis; Min system; peptidoglycan; DivIVA; EzrA; infectious disease; PBP1; microbiology; MinCDE
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.38856

Binary fission has been well studied in rod-shaped bacteria, but the mechanisms underlying cell division in spherical bacteria are poorly understood. Rod-shaped bacteria harbor regulatory proteins that place and remodel the division machinery during cytokinesis. In the spherical human pathogen , we found that the essential protein GpsB localizes to mid-cell during cell division and co-constricts with the division machinery. Depletion of GpsB arrested cell division and led to cell lysis, whereas overproduction of GpsB inhibited cell division and led to the formation of enlarged cells. We report that GpsB, unlike other GpsB orthologs, directly interacts with the core divisome component FtsZ. GpsB bundles and organizes FtsZ filaments and also stimulates the GTPase activity of FtsZ. We propose that GpsB orchestrates the initial stabilization of the Z-ring at the onset of cell division and participates in the subsequent remodeling of the divisome during cytokinesis.