Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Bacterial physiology

Linking DNA replication to the Z ring

Nature Microbiology volume 6, pages 1108–1109 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

To grow and divide properly, bacteria need to coordinate DNA replication with cell division. A recent study identifies CcrZ as a protein from Streptococcus pneumoniae that links these two processes by interacting with FtsZ, the orchestrator of cell division, and modulating the activity of DnaA, the initiator of DNA replication.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Contrasting timing of initiation of replication and Z-ring assembly between E. coli and S. pneumoniae.

References

  1. Dewachter, L., Verstraeten, N., Fauvart, M. & Michiels, J. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 42, 116–136 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bottomley, A. L. & Harry, E. J. Front. Microbiol. 5, 19 (2014).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Eswara, P. J. & Ramamurthi, K. S. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 71, 393–411 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Gallay, C. et al. Nat. Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00949-1 (2021).

  5. Mannik, J. & Bailey, M. W. Front. Microbiol. 6, 306 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ozaki, S., Jenal, U. & Katayama, T. mBio 11, e00487–20 (2020).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Buss, J. A., Peters, N. T., Xiao, J. & Bernhardt, T. G. Mol. Microbiol. 104, 652–663 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. van Raaphorst, R., Kjos, M. & Veening, J. W. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 114, E5959–E5968 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Scholefield, G. & Murray, H. Mol. Microbiol. 90, 147–159 (2013).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Liu, X. et al. Mol. Syst. Biol. 13, 931 (2017).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA

    Joe Lutkenhaus

Authors
  1. Joe Lutkenhaus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joe Lutkenhaus.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lutkenhaus, J. Linking DNA replication to the Z ring. Nat Microbiol 6, 1108–1109 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00951-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-021-00951-7

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing