Fig. 5: Interaction between FtsA and FtsN and the sPG loop are required for superfission mutations to restore Z ring condensation and stability in Δzap cells.
From: The divisome is a self-enhancing machine in Escherichia coli and Caulobacter crescentus
a A diagram for testing the importance of FtsA-FtsN interaction and sPG loop on sPG synthesis-mediated Z ring condensation. Cyto: cytoplasm; IM: Inner membrane; Peri: periplasm. Red cross means disruption of the interaction. b Cell length distribution of ΔzapΔftsN cells with or without superfission mutations complemented with FtsN or its variants (3 biological replicates). Strains were grown at 30 °C in exponential phase. Number of cells analyzed (ΔftsN/FtsN: 256; ΔftsN/FtsND5N: 256; ΔftsN/FtsNΔSPOR: 256; Δzap ΔftsN/FtsN: 249; Δzap ΔftsN/FtsND5N: 237; Δzap ΔftsN/FtsNΔSPOR: 244; Δzap ΔftsN ftsA*/FtsN: 256; Δzap ΔftsN ftsA*/FtsND5N: 238; Δzap ΔftsN ftsA*/FtsNΔSPOR: 256; Δzap ΔftsN ftsI*/FtsN: 256; Δzap ΔftsN ftsI*/FtsND5N: 256; ΔzapΔftsN ftsI*/FtsNΔSPOR: 256; Δzap ΔftsN ftsL*/FtsN: 254; Δzap ΔftsN ftsL*/FtsND5N: 241; Δzap ΔftsN ftsL*/FtsNΔSPOR: 256; Δzap ΔftsN ftsW*/FtsN: 256; Δzap ΔftsN ftsW*/FtsND5N: 241; Δzap ΔftsN ftsW*/FtsNΔSPOR: 256). Data are presented as mean values +/- s.d. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001, two-tailed Student’s t-test. c-d Z ring width distribution (c) and percentage of condensed and decondensed Z rings (d) in ΔzapΔftsN cells with or without superfission mutations and complemented with FtsN or its variants (3 biological replicates). Number of Z rings analyzed in c-d (ΔftsN/FtsN: 429; ΔftsN/FtsND5N: 456; ΔftsN/FtsNΔSPOR: 430; Δzap ΔftsN/FtsN: 365; Δzap ΔftsN/FtsND5N: 356; Δzap ΔftsN/FtsNΔSPOR: 432; Δzap ΔftsN ftsA*/FtsN: 347; Δzap ΔftsN ftsA*/FtsND5N: 407; Δzap ΔftsN ftsA*/FtsNΔSPOR: 364; Δzap ΔftsN ftsI*/FtsN: 384; Δzap ΔftsN ftsI*/FtsND5N: 302; Δzap ΔftsN ftsI*/FtsNΔSPOR: 339; Δzap ΔftsN ftsL*/FtsN: 384; Δzap ΔftsN ftsL*/FtsND5N: 349; Δzap ΔftsN ftsL*/FtsNΔSPOR: 372; Δzap ΔftsN ftsW*/FtsN: 308; Δzap ΔftsN ftsW*/FtsND5N: 268; Δzap ΔftsN ftsW*/FtsNΔSPOR: 315). The box plots in (c) show the 25th and 75th percentiles as the box limits, with the mean at the center, whiskers extend from -s.d. to +s.d. of the mean. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
