SKM 2023 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 16: Systems Biophysics
BP 16.3: Talk
Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 12:00–12:15, BAR 0106
Tuning pattern formation of E. coli Min proteins in vivo — Ziyuan Ren1, •Henrik Weyer2, Laeschkir Würthner2, Erwin Frey2, and Suckjoon Jun1 — 1Department of Physics & Section of Molecular Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr. La Jolla, CA 92093, USA — 2Arnold Sommerfeld Center for Theoretical Physics and Center for NanoScience, Department of Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Theresienstraße 37, D-80333 München, Germany
The Min protein system of Escherichia coli bacteria is crucial for their proliferation. The Min proteins ensure symmetric cell division by positioning the cell-division machinery at midcell. This spatial templating is achieved by the self-organized pole-to-pole oscillation of the Min proteins, suppressing FtsZ ring formation at the cell poles. We experimentally study the robustness of Min pattern formation under changes in the total protein content of MinD and MinE by genetically modifying their expression in live E. coli bacteria. This uncovers a remarkable robustness of Min patterns in vivo comparable with previous findings in vitro. Moreover, this study reveals that the protein concentrations determine the pattern type, and both standing-wave and traveling-wave patterns form in filamentous cells. We show that the same reaction–diffusion model based on the conformational switch of MinE introduced earlier for the in vitro system explains both the robustness and the pattern characteristics in vivo. Thus, common principles underlie Min pattern formation in vivo and in vitro.