Insight into bacterial cell division could lead to advancements in the fight against harmful bacteria

Thursday, May 26, 2016 - 07:01 in Biology & Nature

Escherichia coli (E. coli) are bacteria that live all around and inside of us. Most E. coli are harmless, but some strains can cause illness, and can even, in extreme cases, be deadly. With recent outbreaks of E. coli around the world, there is a fear of acquiring an infection from these bacteria. An important component of fighting these kinds of bad bacteria is a better understanding of how bacteria divide and multiply. In each bacterium, a large protein complex – called the divisome – governs cell division. The divisome assembles in the middle of the cell to divide the cell and later disassembles to recycle the proteins.

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