Edit - Elife has the full publication here.
elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

2) we also see the constriction rate of the Z ring scales with the membrane tension, indicating ring constriction and septal synthesis occurs via a Brownian ratchet mechanism.

5/ Finally, our measurements indicate that the vast majority (99.9%) of the turgor pressure is held back by the cell wall, and that the membrane only resists 0.1% of the internal pressure.

4/ This points to a Brownian ratchet model for constriction, where membrane fluctuations at the tip of the septa create room for septal enzymes to insert new wall material, which then reinforces the inward fluctuation.

3/ Surprisingly, they found that once division starts, the rate of septal constriction increases as membrane tension decreases, indicating that membrane fluctuations, rather than cell wall synthesis, are limiting for cell division.

2/ By being able to modulate and measure tension, Diego and Lei found 1 that the condensation of FtsZ filaments (helped by FtsZ bundling proteins) works to overcome the membrane tension to bend it inward.

The interplay of membrane tension and FtsZ filament condensation on the initiation and progression of cell division in B. subtilis The first step of cell division is deforming the planar cell membrane inward towards the cytoplasm. As deforming membranes is energetically costly, biology has developed various protein systems to acc...

I’m excited that the work by Diego Ramirez and Lei Yin is out, where they gained several key insights into what provides the force underlying bacterial cell division doi.org/10.1101/2025....

To divide, cells must first bend the membrane inward, a process that’s energetically expensive

@christophstc.bsky.social

I can't believe I missed this. Congrats!

@cellforganized.bsky.social, @goleylab.bsky.social ‬ - I'm new to bluesky, can you repost?

Registration is OPEN for 2025 Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Biology and Development @GordonConf
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