Fig. 3: In-liposome synthesized FtsA assembles with FtsZ into ring-like structures that drive vesicle budding.

a Schematic illustration of liposome reconstitution assays. The ftsA_opt DNA template was expressed within phospholipid vesicles in the presence of 3 µM purified FtsZ-A647. b–d Confocal fluorescence images of liposomes exhibiting different morphologies of FtsZ-FtsA cytoskeletal structures and membrane remodeling: recruitment of proteins to the membrane in the form of clusters with no visible membrane deformation b, budding spots induced by local accumulation of FtsZ-FtsA c, and budding vesicles from a parental liposome with a clear FtsA-FtsZ-coated membrane neck d. e Time series images showing that a ring-forming protein cluster localized at a constriction site can split, which induces multiple necks separated by blebbing vesicles (see Movie 2). Timespan is 120 s between the first and second row of images, and 96 s between the second and third row. Fluorescence from the membrane dye is colored in green and FtsZ-A647 signal is in magenta. The composite image is the overlay of the two channels. Asterisks indicate budding spots or constriction sites. Scale bars represent 10 µm. More examples of liposomes are shown in Supplementary Figs. 14 and 15.