Dynamic compartmentalization of bacteria: accurate division in E. coli
Soft Condensed Matter
2009-11-07 v1 Statistical Mechanics
Pattern Formation and Solitons
Subcellular Processes
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0112125,
title = {Dynamic compartmentalization of bacteria: accurate division in E. coli},
author = {Martin Howard and Andrew D. Rutenberg and Simon de Vet},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0112125},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, 4 figures, Latex2e, Revtex4