Wang X, Lutkenhaus J
Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics, and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City 66103, USA.
J Bacteriol. 1996 Apr;178(8):2314-9. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.8.2314-2319.1996.
The ftsZ gene is required for cell division in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. In these organisms, FtsZ is located in a ring at the leading edge of the septum. This ring is thought to be responsible for invagination of the septum, either causing invagination of the cytoplasmic membrane or activating septum-specific peptidoglycan biosynthesis. In this paper, we report that the cell division gene ftsZ is present in two mycoplasma species, Mycoplasma pulmonis and Acholeplasma laidlawii, which are eubacterial organisms lacking a cell wall. Sequencing of the ftsZ homolog from M. pulmonis revealed that it was highly homologous to other known FtsZ proteins. The M. pulmonis ftsZ gene was overexpressed, and the purified M. pulmonis FtsZ bound GTP. Using antisera raised against this purified protein, we could demonstrate that it was expressed in M. pulmonis. Expression of the M. pulmonis ftsZ gene in E. coli inhibited cell division, leading to filamentation, which could be suppressed by increasing expression of the E. coli ftsZ gene. The implications of these results for the role of ftsZ in cell division are discussed.
ftsZ基因在大肠杆菌和枯草芽孢杆菌的细胞分裂过程中是必需的。在这些生物体中，FtsZ位于隔膜前缘的一个环中。这个环被认为负责隔膜的内陷，要么导致细胞质膜的内陷，要么激活隔膜特异性肽聚糖的生物合成。在本文中，我们报道细胞分裂基因ftsZ存在于两种支原体中，即肺炎支原体和莱氏无胆甾原体，它们是缺乏细胞壁的真细菌生物体。对肺炎支原体ftsZ同源物的测序表明，它与其他已知的FtsZ蛋白高度同源。肺炎支原体ftsZ基因被过度表达，纯化的肺炎支原体FtsZ能结合GTP。使用针对这种纯化蛋白产生的抗血清，我们能够证明它在肺炎支原体中表达。肺炎支原体ftsZ基因在大肠杆菌中的表达抑制了细胞分裂，导致丝状化，增加大肠杆菌ftsZ基因的表达可以抑制这种现象。本文讨论了这些结果对ftsZ在细胞分裂中作用的意义。
