Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

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DY: Fachverband Dynamik und Statistische Physik

DY 44: Pattern Formation I

DY 44.1: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 10:00–10:30, BH-N 334

Self-organisation and positioning of sub-cellular protein clusters — •Sean M. Murray — Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany

Many cellular processes require proteins to be precisely positioned within the cell. In some cases this can be attributed to passive mechanisms such as recruitment by other proteins in the cell or by exploiting the curvature of the membrane. However, in bacteria, active self-positioning is likely to play a role in multiple processes, including the positioning of the future division site and cytoplasmic protein clusters. How can such dynamic clusters be formed and positioned? Here, we present a model for the self-organization and positioning of dynamic protein clusters into regularly repeating patterns based on a phase-locked Turing pattern. A single peak in the concentration is always positioned at the midpoint of the model cell and two peaks are positioned at the midpoint of each half. Furthermore, domain growth results in peak-splitting and pattern doubling. We argue that the model may explain the regular positioning of the highly conserved Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (SMC) complexes on the bacterial nucleoid and provides an attractive mechanism for the self-positioning of dynamic protein clusters in other systems.

We also briefly present recent results on the role this mechanism may play in bacterial chromosome segregation.