You Are What You Eat: Metabolic Control of Bacterial Division. Issue 3 (March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Monahan, Leigh G.; Harry, Elizabeth J.
• Is Part Of: Trends in microbiology. Volume 24:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 181
• Page End: 189
• Publication Date: 2016-03
• Subjects: cell division -- cell cycle -- nutritional regulation -- metabolism -- FtsZ -- moonlighting proteins; Microbiology -- Periodicals; Infection -- Periodicals; Virulence (Microbiology) -- Periodicals; Infection -- Periodicals; Microbiology -- Periodicals; Virulence -- Periodicals; Microbiologie -- Périodiques; Infection -- Périodiques; Virulence (Microbiologie) -- Périodiques; Infection; Microbiology; Virulence (Microbiology); 579
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2015.11.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0966-842X

Abstract

Abstract : Fluctuations in nutrient availability are a fact of life for bacterial cells in the 'wild'. To survive and compete, bacteria must rapidly modulate cell-cycle processes to accommodate changing nutritional conditions and concomitant changes in cell growth. Our understanding of how this is achieved has been transformed in recent years, with cellular metabolism emerging as a central player. Several metabolic enzymes, in addition to their normal catalytic functions, have been shown to directly modulate cell-cycle processes in response to changing nutrient levels. Here we focus on cell division, the final event in the bacterial cell cycle, and discuss recent compelling evidence connecting division regulation to nutritional status and metabolic activity. Trends: Cellular metabolism has emerged as a key player in the nutritional regulation of bacterial division and other cell-cycle processes. A number of metabolic enzymes have been shown to directly influence division in response to nutrient status by modulating the activity of FtsZ, the master orchestrator of bacterial cytokinesis. The ability of metabolic enzymes to affect division is controlled at least in part by substrate levels, which serve as an intracellular reporter of nutrient availability. A diversity of metabolic regulatory mechanisms has been observed for division in different bacteria, hinting at evolution on a species-specific level.