Dynamics of the Synechococcus elongatus cytoskeletal GTPase FtsZ yields mechanistic and evolutionary insight into cyanobacterial and chloroplast FtsZs.

ABSTRACT: The division of cyanobacteria and their chloroplast descendants is orchestrated by filamenting temperature-sensitive Z (FtsZ), a cytoskeletal GTPase that polymerizes into protofilaments that form a "Z ring" at the division site. The Z ring has both a scaffolding function for division-complex assembly and a GTPase-dependent contractile function that drives cell or organelle constriction. A single FtsZ performs these functions in bacteria, whereas in chloroplasts, they are performed by two copolymerizing FtsZs, called AtFtsZ2 and AtFtsZ1 in Arabidopsis thaliana, which promote protofilament stability and dynamics, respectively. To probe the differences between cyanobacterial and chloroplast FtsZs, we used light scattering to characterize the in vitro protofilament dynamics of FtsZ from the cy

SUBMITTER: Porter KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9975276 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature