Scientists show how some pathogenic
bacteria -- such as the mycobacteria that cause tuberculosis -- use a
previously unknown mechanism to coordinate their division. The discovery could
help develop new ways to fight them.
Most rod-shaped bacteria divide by
splitting into two around the middle after their DNA has replicated safely and
segregated to opposite ends of the cell. This seemingly simple process actually
demands tight and precise coordination, which is achieved through two
biological systems: nucleoid occlusion, which protects the cell's genetic
material from dividing until it replicates and segregates, and the
"minicell" system, which localizes the site of division around the
middle of the cell, where a dividing wall will form to split it in two.
But some pathogenic bacteria, e.g.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, don't use these mechanisms. EPFL scientists have
now combined optical and atomic force microscopy to track division in such
bacteria for the first time and have discovered that they use instead an
undulating "wave-pattern" along their length to mark future sites of
division.
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Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle
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