Coordinating bacterial cell division with nutrient availability: a role for glycolysis

Leigh G. Monahan, Isabella V. Hajduk, Sinead P. Blaber, Ian G. Charles, Elizabeth J. Harry

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    86 Citations (Scopus)
    68 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Cell division in bacteria is driven by a cytoskeletal ring structure, the Z ring, composed of polymers of the tubulin-like protein FtsZ. Z-ring formation must be tightly regulated to ensure faithful cell division, and several mechanisms that influence the positioning and timing of Z-ring assembly have been described. Another important but as yet poorly understood aspect of cell division regulation is the need to coordinate division with cell growth and nutrient availability. In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that cell division is intimately linked to central carbon metabolism in the model Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. We showed that a deletion of the gene encoding pyruvate kinase (pyk), which produces pyruvate in the final reaction of glycolysis, rescues the assembly defect of a temperature-sensitive ftsZ mutant and has significant effects on Z-ring formation in wild-type B. subtilis cells. Addition of exogenous pyruvate restores normal division in the absence of the pyruvate kinase enzyme, implicating pyruvate as a key metabolite in the coordination of bacterial growth and division. Our results support a model in which pyruvate levels are coupled to Z-ring assembly via an enzyme that actually metabolizes pyruvate, the E1α subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase. We have shown that this protein localizes over the nucleoid in a pyruvatedependent manner and may stimulate more efficient Z-ring formation at the cell center under nutrient-rich conditions, when cells must divide more frequently.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article numberARTN e00935-14
    Pages (from-to)1-13
    Number of pages13
    JournalmBio
    Volume5
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - May 2014

    Bibliographical note

    Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Coordinating bacterial cell division with nutrient availability: a role for glycolysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this