November 27, 2011 Min Oscillations In Vitro presented by Lindsay

When: November 27, 2011 12:00
Where: Physics 377
Presenter: Lindsay Moore (Erez Braun's group, physics)
Link to paper: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/320/5877/789.full.pdf

Spatial Regulators for Bacterial Cell Division Self-Organize into Surface Waves in Vitro

1. Martin Loose, 
2. Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich, 
3. Jonas Ries, 
4. Karsten Kruse, and 
5. Petra Schwille

 Biotechnologisches Zentrum der Technischen Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47-51, 01307 Dresden, Germany.

 Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.

 Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany.

 Theoretische Physik, Universität des Saarlandes, Postfach 151150, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany.

In the bacterium Escherichia coli, the Min proteins oscillate between the cell poles to select the cell center as division site. This dynamic pattern has been proposed to arise by self-organization of these proteins, and several models have suggested a reaction-diffusion type mechanism. Here, we found that the Min proteins spontaneously formed planar surface waves on a flat membrane in vitro. The formation and maintenance of these patterns, which extended for hundreds of micrometers, required adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP), and they persisted for hours. We present a reaction-diffusion model of the MinD and MinE dynamics that accounts for our experimental observations and also captures the in vivo oscillations.