We describe a number of multiplexing techniques which may be used for fibre-optic sensors in which the sensing element is a ring resonator . The basic optical unit comprises a sensing ring resonator connected to a second interrogating ring resonator of nearly equal length, and illuminated by a source of short coherence length. A number of such units may be combined to form an array, using coher...

Whereas actomyosin and septin ring organization and function in cytokinesis are thoroughly described, little is known regarding the mechanisms by which the actomyosin ring interacts with septins and associated proteins to coordinate cell division. Here we show that the protein product of YPL158C, Aim44p, undergoes septin-dependent recruitment to the site of cell division. Aim44p colocalizes wit...

Replication of chloroplasts is essential for achieving and maintaining optimal plastid numbers in plant cells. The plastid division machinery contains components of both endosymbiotic and host cell origin, but little is known about the regulation and molecular mechanisms that govern the division process. The Arabidopsis mutant arc6 is defective in plastid division, and its leaf mesophyll cells ...

Bacterial cell division is an intricate process involving the highly coordinated interplay of many different proteins. Joe Lutkenhaus, a microbiology professor at Kansas University Medical Center, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2014 for his key contributions to unraveling the complexities of this process. Among other findings, Lutkenhaus discovered a protein, FtsZ, which is ...

During the bacterial cell cycle, the tubulin-like cell-division protein FtsZ polymerizes into a ring structure that establishes the location of the nascent division site. We have identified a regulator of FtsZ ring formation in Bacillus subtilis. This protein, EzrA, modulates the frequency and position of FtsZ ring formation. The loss of ezrA resulted in cells with multiple FtsZ rings located a...

The anaphase-promoting complex (APC) is a ubiquitin ligase that controls progression through mitosis by targeting specific proteins for degradation. It is unclear whether the APC also contributes to the control of cytokinesis, the process that divides the cell after mitosis. We addressed this question in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by studying the effects of APC mutations on the actomyos...

BACKGROUND In premitotic plant cells, the future division plane is predicted by a cortical ring of microtubules and F-actin called the preprophase band (PPB). The PPB persists throughout prophase, but is disassembled upon nuclear-envelope breakdown as the mitotic spindle forms. Following nuclear division, a cytokinetic phragmoplast forms between the daughter nuclei and expands laterally to atta...

Dynamins are a eukaryote-specific family of GTPases. Some family members are involved in diverse and varied cellular activities. Here, we report that the primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae retains only one dynamin homolog, CmDnm1, belonging to the mitochondrial division subfamily. Previously, the bacterial cell division protein, FtsZ, was shown to localize at the mitochondrial division ...

Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells divide by medial fission through the use of an actomyosin-based contractile ring. A mulitlayered division septum is assembled in concert with ring constriction. Finally, cleavage of the inner layer of the division septum results in the liberation of daughter cells. Although numerous studies have focused on actomyosin ring and division septum assembly, little info...

The physical separation of a cell into two daughter cells during cytokinesis requires cell-intrinsic shape changes driven by a contractile ring. However, in vivo, cells interact with their environment, which includes other cells. How cytokinesis occurs in tissues is not well understood. Here, we studied cytokinesis in an intact animal during tissue biogenesis. We used high-resolution microscopy...