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FtsZ Bacterial Cytoskeletal Polymers on Curved Surfaces: The Importance of Lateral Interactions

Ines Hörger ^*, Enrique Velasco ^*, Germán Rivas , Marisela Vélez  and Pedro Tarazona ^*

^* Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada and Instituto Universitario de Ciencia de Materiales "Nicolás Cabrera", Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; and Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain

Correspondence: Address reprint requests and inquiries to Marisela Vélez, E-mail: marisela.velez{at}uam.es.

A recent theoretical article provided a mechanical explanation for the formation of cytoskeletal rings and helices in bacteria assuming that these shapes arise, at least in part, from the interaction of the inherent mechanical properties of the protein polymers and the constraints imposed by the curved cell membrane (Andrews, S., and A. P. Arkin. 2007. Biophys. J. 93:1872–1884). Due to the lack of experimental data regarding the bending rigidity and preferential bond angles of bacterial polymers, the authors explored their model over wide ranges of preferred curvature values. In this letter, we present the shape diagram of the FtsZ bacterial polymer on a curved surface but now including recent experimental data on the in vitro formed FtsZ polymers. The lateral interactions between filaments observed experimentally change qualitatively the shape diagram and indicate that the formation of rings over spirals is more energetically favored than estimated in the above-mentioned article.

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