CSSB Seminar Series - LOTTE SOGAARD-ANDERSEN
Lotte Sogaard-Andersen from MPI for Terrestiral Microbiology will give a CSSB Seminar on June 29, 2023. All are welcome to attend!
Cell division is spatiotemporally precisely regulated, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. In the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus, the PomX/PomY/PomZ proteins form a single megadalton-sized complex that directly positions and stimulates cytokinetic ring formation by the tubulin homolog FtsZ. While PomX/PomY/PomZ cluster translocation is well-understood based on experiments and theory, the structure of the PomX/PomY/PomZ complex and its function in FtsZ-ring formation remain unclear. Here, by focusing on PomX and PomY and combining in vivo and in vitro approaches, we show that PomY forms liquid-like biomolecular condensates by phase separation. These condensates selectively enrich FtsZ thereby nucleating GTP-dependent FtsZ polymerization and bundling FtsZ filaments. The filamentous PomX structure serves as a scaffold to locally enrich PomY, thereby nucleating phase separation by PomY via surface-assisted condensation and ensuring the formation of precisely one PomY condensate per cell that guides Z-ring formation and cell division. This mechanism shares features with microtubule nucleation by biomolecular condensates in eukaryotes, supporting this mechanism’s ancient origin.
https://desy.zoom.us/j/69307756190
Meeting ID: 693 0775 6190
Passcode: 962615
