Localizing cell division in spherical Escherichia coli by nucleoid occlusion.

The spatial relationship between FtsZ localization and nucleoid segregation was followed in Escherichia coli thyA cells, made spheroidal by brief exposure to mecillinam and after manipulating chromosome replication time using changes ('steps') in thymine concentration [Zaritsky et al., Microbiology 145 (1999) 1015-1022]. In such cells, fluorescent FtsZ-GFP arcs did not overlap the DAPI-stained nucleoids. It is concluded that FtsZ rings are deposited between segregating nucleoids, consistent with the nucleoid occlusion model [Woldringh et al., J. Bacteriol. 176 (1994) 6030-6038].