An intrinsically disordered linker plays a critical role in bacterial cell division

In bacteria, animals, fungi, and many single celled eukaryotes, division is initiated by the formation of a ring of cytoskeletal protein at the nascent division site. In bacteria, the tubulin-like GTPase FtsZ serves as the foundation for the cytokinetic ring. A conserved feature of FtsZ is an intrinsically disordered peptide known as the C-terminal linker. Chimeric experiments suggest the linker acts as a flexible boom allowing FtsZ to associate with the membrane through a conserved C-terminal domain and also modulates interactions both between FtsZ subunits and between FtsZ and modulatory proteins in the cytoplasm. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.