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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

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.

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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

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.

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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

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.

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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

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.

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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

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.

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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

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

doi.org

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...

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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 09/10/2024

I can't believe I missed this. Congrats!

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Ethan Garner @fleshball.bsky.social · 09/10/2024

Registration is OPEN for 2025 Bacterial and Archaeal Cell Biology and Development @GordonConf and GRS. This will be oversubscribed, so register ASAP. We have an amazing lineup of speakers and discussion leaders. Apply now - www.grc.org/bacterial-ce... #MicroSky

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