Characterisation of mutant alleles of the cell division protein FtsA, a regulator and structural component of the Escherichia coli septator.

Two alleles of ftsA, a gene that encodes an essential cell division protein in Escherichia coli, have-been mapped at the nucleotide level. The mutations are located inside domains that are conserved in an ATP-binding protein family. The ftsA2 mutation lies in the adenine-binding domain, and the ftsA3 in the ribose-binding domain. The defect in ampicillin binding to PBP3 described for allele ftsA3 is allele-specific. This supports the hypothesis of the existence of different domains in FtsA having different functions.