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Science 9 May 2008:
Vol. 320. no. 5877, pp. 789 - 792
DOI: 10.1126/science.1154413
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Reports

Spatial Regulators for Bacterial Cell Division Self-Organize into Surface Waves in Vitro

Martin Loose,1,2 Elisabeth Fischer-Friedrich,3 Jonas Ries,1 Karsten Kruse,4* Petra Schwille1,2*

In the bacterium Escherichia coli, the Min proteins oscillate between the cell poles to select the cell center as division site. This dynamic pattern has been proposed to arise by self-organization of these proteins, and several models have suggested a reaction-diffusion type mechanism. Here, we found that the Min proteins spontaneously formed planar surface waves on a flat membrane in vitro. The formation and maintenance of these patterns, which extended for hundreds of micrometers, required adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), and they persisted for hours. We present a reaction-diffusion model of the MinD and MinE dynamics that accounts for our experimental observations and also captures the in vivo oscillations.

1 Biotechnologisches Zentrum der Technischen Universität Dresden, Tatzberg 47-51, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
2 Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, 01307 Dresden, Germany.
3 Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Nöthnitzer Strasse 38, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
4 Theoretische Physik, Universität des Saarlandes, Postfach 151150, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: petra.schwille{at}biotec.tu-dresden.de (P.S.); k.kruse{at}physik.uni-saarland.de (K.K.)

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)