Regulation of cell division in a temperature-sensitive division mutant of Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli fil ts forms multinucleate filaments when suspensions of about 10(7) organisms per ml are shifted from 37 to 43 C in rich medium. Occasional septation continues, chiefly at the poles, and immediately becomes more frequent when the filaments are returned to 37 C. The addition of chloramphenicol (200 mug/ml) at either temperature initially stimulates the formation of polar septa. When very dilute suspensions of the strain (<10(6) organisms per ml) are shifted to the restrictive temperature, the inhibition of septation is more complete and only seldom reversible. Conversely, cell division is little affected when suspensions of >10(8) organisms per ml, or microcolonies of several hundred organisms on agar, are incubated at 43 C; evidence is presented that this is a consequence of a slight reduction in the mutant's growth rate. In certain media, septation is blocked irreversibly by even brief exposure to 43 C, after which cell elongation without division proceeds at 37 C for some hours. Several findings, when considered together, suggest that the cytoplasmic membrane is normal at the restrictive temperature, and that the block in septation is caused by a defect in the cell wall: it is largely overcome by NaCl, but not by sucrose; in some circumstances the filaments become swollen and develop localized bulges in the wall, yet the membrane remains intact and retains its selective permeability; lastly, the strain is insensitive to deoxycholate at both temperatures. The mutation has been mapped between arg B and thr, at a locus which appears to be distinct from others known primarily to influence cell division.