Spatiotemporal organization of peptidoglycan synthesis and cell division (N) (A17*)

• Subject Area: Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 32152271

Acyldepsipeptide antibiotics (ADEP) activate bacterial peptidase ClpP to degrade the cell division mediator FtsZ. Using ADEP as a tool for FtsZ depletion and cell division inhibition, we study aspects of spatiotemporal regulation of cell division and peptidoglycan synthesis in Bacillus subtilis. In the presence of ADEP, the rod-shaped cells form long filaments that contain almost exclusively lateral peptidoglycan for analyses of muropeptide composition and turnover processes. After ADEP removal the elongated cells re-establish FtsZ-rings, allowing us to characterize the sites of preferential FtsZ-ring placement.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 766: The Bacterial Cell Envelope: Structure, Function and Infection Interface
• Major Instrumentation: Flourescence Microscope
• Instrumentation Group: 5090 Spezialmikroskope
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt; Dr. Peter Sass