EzrA contributes to the regulation of cell size in Staphylococcus aureus.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 22110668.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0027542 and PMC identifier 3215724.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
EzrA is a negative regulator of FtsZ in Bacillus subtilis, involved in the coordination between cell growth and cell division and in the control of the cell elongation-division cycle. We have now studied the role of the Staphylococcus aureus homologue of the B. subtilis EzrA protein and shown that it is not essential for cell viability. EzrA conditional and null mutants have an overall increase of the average cell size, compared to wild type strains. In the larger ezrA mutant S. aureus cells, cell division protein FtsZ and the cell wall synthesizing Penicillin Binding Proteins (PBPs) are not properly localized. This suggests that there may be a maximum cell diameter that allows formation of a Z-ring capable of recruiting the other components of the divisome and of driving cytokinesis. We propose that the major role of EzrA in S. aureus is in cell size homeostasis.
Medical subject headings
- Bacterial Proteins
- Staphylococcus aureus