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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 87 » Issue 27
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 278102 (2001) [4 pages]

Dynamic Compartmentalization of Bacteria: Accurate Division in E. Coli

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Martin Howard1,*, Andrew D. Rutenberg2, and Simon de Vet2
1Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6
2Department of Physics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3J5

Received 14 July 2001; published 10 December 2001

Positioning of the midcell division plane within the bacterium E. coli is controlled by the min system of proteins: MinC, MinD, and MinE. These proteins coherently oscillate from end to end of the bacterium. We present a reaction-diffusion model describing the diffusion of min proteins along the bacterium and their transfer between the cytoplasmic membrane and cytoplasm. Our model spontaneously generates protein oscillations in good agreement with experiments. We explore the oscillation stability, frequency, and wavelength as a function of protein concentration and bacterial length.

© 2001 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.278102
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.278102
PACS:
87.17.Ee, 87.16.Ac, 82.39.Rt

*Current address: Instituut-Lorentz, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9506, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.

 
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