Cell division of cycle of Bacillus subtilis: evidence of variability in period D

Abstract

In Bacillus subtilis the deoxyribonucleic acid content and the extent of cell division during inhibition of chromosome replication increased as a function of the average cell mass, independent of the growth rate. At each growth rate, mass, deoxyribonucleic acid, and residual division varied in different cultures. The variation is consistent with a large variability in the D period. At growth rates higher than 1.5 doublings per h at 37 degrees C, the change in D accounts for the growth rate dependence of the mass and deoxyribonucleic acid content.

Control of the cell elongation–division cycle by shuttling of PBP1 protein in Bacillus subtilis

“…First, constriction results in the invagination of the cell membrane and wall to produce a septal plate that physiologically separates the cells. Dissolution of the wall material that holds the nascent sister cells is then required to allow them to separate, and the time taken for this step can be variable and rather long (Holmes et al. , 1980).…”

The membrane‐bound cell division protein DivIB is localized to the division site in Bacillus subtilis

“…For unseptated immunostained cells, those showing a two-dot pattern had a mean cell length of 4.47 m Ϯ 0.08 (standard error of the mean), and cells showing a line pattern were slightly longer (4.77 Ϯ 0.14 m). Septated immunostained cells showed a larger difference in mean cell length between each staining pattern, which probably reflects the longer time, relative to septum formation, that B. subtilis cells take to separate (Holmes et al, 1980). Again, cells showing a two-dot pattern were the shortest (2.65 Ϯ 0.07 m), a line pattern occurred in cells with an intermediate cell length (3.01 Ϯ 0.05 m) and cells showing a centre-dot pattern were even longer (3.30 Ϯ 0.07 m).…”

Microfluidic time‐lapse analysis and reevaluation of the Bacillus subtilis cell cycle

“…Also, most work has been done on the Gram‐negative bacteria, E. coli (Bertaux, Marguerat, & Shahrezaei, ; Campos et al, ; Furse, Wienk, Boelens, Kroon, & Killian, ; Hill, Kadoya, Chattoraj, & Levin, ; Osella, Nugent, & Lagomarsino, ; Wallden et al, ; Zheng et al, ) and Caulobacter crescentus (Banerjee et al, ; Campos et al, ; Woldemeskel & Goley, ; Wright et al, ). The cell cycle of the Gram‐positive bacterium, B. subtilis , has been studied in considerable detail previously but mainly at the population level (Burdett, Kirkwood, & Whalley, ; Holmes, Rickert, & Pierucci, ; Nanninga, Koppes, & Vries‐Tijssen, ; Paulton, ; Sargent, ; Sharpe et al, ). Two clear differences from E. coli are apparent.…”

“…Second, in B. subtilis, the processes of septation (membrane scission) and cell separation (wall scission) are temporally disconnected, whereas in E. coli they occur simultaneously (Errington, Daniel, & Scheffers, ). As the cell separation time is quite variable in B. subtilis , depending both on growth conditions and cell to cell differences (Holmes et al, ; Nanninga et al, ), we previously defined a D* period, corresponding to the interval between termination of replication and membrane scission, which is relatively constant when measured at the population average level (Sharpe et al, ). Moreover, because the FtsZ‐based division machine, which is almost universal in bacteria, operates during membrane scission rather than cell separation, D* is probably functionally equivalent to the D period of E. coli (Errington et al, ; Harry, ).…”