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What is the molecular mechanism of FtsZ fibre formation

The focus of the project was on the early phase of the division process within bacteria cells such as E Coli which involves the formation of filamentous ring of FtsZ around the inner membrane of the background. The aim of was to recreate some of the protein complexes that are thought to be involved in modulating the bundling of the FtsZ fibre (ZipA and YgfE) and its tethering to the membrane (ZipA and FtsA).

The majority of the first project involved the creation of a quantity of FtzZ protein through bacterial expression that could be used by myself and others in the later stages of this investigation.

This process was described in a poster that I presented at during the MOAC conference in 2008.

During this miniproject I became interested in the interaction between FtsZ and water, and how this might explain some aspects of the difference in behaviour between FtsZ and its eukaryotic homolgue tubulin. This was presented as a talk during the MOAC conference in 2008 (limited access).