Summary: 214 | MARCH 2005 | VOLUME 3 www.nature.com/reviews/micro
R E V I E W S
Conceptually, cell propagation by binary fission is a
simpleprocess;acellmerelyneedstogrowtotwiceitssize,
andthensplitintwo.Buttoremaincompetitive,letalone
viable,a prokaryotic cell must divide at the appropriate
time and at the correct location in the cell, and must
ensure that each progeny daughter cell receives a com-
plete complement of genes with high fidelity.Bacterial
models that have been used for the study of cell division
include the Gram-negative proteobacterial species
Escherichia coli and Caulobacter crescentus, and the low-
GC Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. These
models have provided insight into cell division and
continue to reveal surprising findings1
.The cell biology
and genetics of cell division in these and other model
organisms have been discussed in recent reviews2­8
.As
important cell-division components are revealed,and

Source: Angert, Esther - Department of Microbiology, Cornell University

Collections: Biology and Medicine