A Study of “Escherichia Coli” Essay

Bacteria present a world that is constantly under study in the search for better understanding of life and its processes. The cells are being examined in “microfluidic devices” that allow for movement and create an environment to observe the interaction between cells, as well as internal mechanisms and reactions (Mosier & Cady 1).

The division of bacteria cells is a whole field of microbiology that is centered on observing the progress of separation, as well as determining the conditions and analyzing the unique features specific to bacterial cells. The cells exist in many forms and of different types, and each has a unique characteristic but the uniting condition is that they all have cell walls that exhibit pressure and stress during division (Huang et al. 19282).

A study of “Escherichia coli” looks closely at such formation and division. There is also a focus on the” minichromosomes” of E-coli and their role in replication. They have been shown to require “gene products” which take part in replication of the chromosomes (Leonard & Helmstetter 5101).

The division of bacterial cells is focused on the study of the force that makes the cell separate into two, paying specific attention to FtsZ and the division ring—Z-ring. During the actual division, Z-ring changes in size, it gets smaller and the septum gets formed. This process taken several minutes and the two new cells appear.

The particular membrane protein, FtsZ, which is thought to be important for division, is closely involved but does not itself produce energy for the separation. Z-ring is credited with that when penicillin binding proteins form around the ring, short time before the division of cells completes. The resources that are used for the division come from the cell wall that has been shown to lose some of its mass.

In general, the model of bacterial cell division has 4 stages. The first looks specifically at the cell wall and the changing structure of the membrane. The second looks at the pressure and its influences that take place inside the cell itself. The third stage is the growth of the cell and membranes, particularly the creation of new material and mechanisms that are involved.

The final stage looks at penicillin binding proteins which lead to growth of the membrane wall. It is noted that the turgor pressure pushes the previous cell wall out, expanding the cytoplasm and inner membrane.

The involvement of peptidoglycan (PG) synthesis proteins is also observed and their position in the membrane answers to a formation, which is “perpendicular to the longitudinal direction” (Ganhui, Wolgermuth & Sun 16111).

The technological advancements have allowed for a much closer look at bacterial cell division. Microbial physiology is being closely studied in relation to their forms or cytoskeletal elements, comparison of number of species, mechanisms of cell division and specifics of chromosomes.

Proteins have been shown to play an important role in cell division and growth, as well as their size and form. The mechanisms and forces that are involved must be closely examined and the results of studies look rather promising (Sharoud & Rowbury 1).

References

Ganhui, L, Wolgermuth C & Sun, S 2007, ‘Z-ring force and cell shape during division in rod-like bacteria’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 104 no. 41, pp. 16110-16115.

Huang, K, Mukhopadhyay, R, Wen, B, Gitai, Z and Wingreen, N, 2008, ‘Cell Shape and Cell-Wall Organization in Gram-Negative Bacteria’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 105 no. 49, pp. 19282-19287.

Leonard, A & Helmstetter, C 1986, ‘Cell cycle-specific replication of Escherichia coli minichromosomes’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 83 no. 14, pp. 5101-5105.

Mosier, P & Cady, N 2011, ‘Analysis of Bacterial Surface Interactions Using Microfluidic Systems’, Science Progress, vol. 94 no. 4, pp. 1-3.

Sharoud, W & Rowbury, R 2007, ‘Major Microbiology Research Areas and Techniques: Cell Division, Cytoskeleton, Stationary-Phase and Bioluminescence’, Science Progress, vol. 90 no. 2-3, pp. 1.