Table 1. Cell division proteins present and absent in bacterial genomes
Last updated July 18, 2000

Ec

Aac

Hi

Nm

Vc

Xf

Yp

Bs

Bb

Dr

Hp

Mtb

Rp

Sp

Sy

Tp

Aa

Tm

Ct

Mg

Mpn

Uu

Af

Ap

Mj

Mt

Ph

Pa

ftsZ

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

0

1

1

0

2

0

2

1

1

3

ftsI

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ftsA

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

0

1

1

0

1

1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0?

0

0

0

0

ftsQ*

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

div

div?

0?

0

0

0

div

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ftsW

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

0

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

ftsK*

1

1

1

2

1

1

1

3*

1

1

2

4-6

1

1

0

1

0

0

1

0

0

1?

0

0

0

0?

0

0

zipA

1

1

1

0

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

minC

1

1

0

1

1

1

1

1

0

0?

1?

0

0

0

1?

0

1?

1?

0

0

0

0

0?

0

0

0

0

0

minD*

1

1

0

2

1

1

1

2

1

1

2

0?

0

0

1

3

2

1

0

0

0

0

2

0

2

1

3

3

minE

1

1

0

1

1

1

1

0

0

1?

1

0

0?

0

1

0

0

0?

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

sulA

1

0

0

0?

0?

1

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0?

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

SMC*

muk

muk

muk

1

muk

1

muk

1

1

1

0

1

0

1

1

1

1

1

0

1

1

0

1

0

1

0

1

1


Table 1. ftsZ is universally present in all bacteria
(except three), but all the other Fts proteins are absent from several or most species.
Species names: Ec: Escherichia coli; Aac: Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans; Hi: Hemophilus influenzae; Ng: Neisseria meningitidis; Xf: Xylella fastidiosus; Vc: Vibrio cholorae; Yp: Yersinia pesti;s Bs: Bacillus subtilis; Bb: Borelia burgdorferii; Dr: Dynococcus radiodurans; Hp: Helicobacter pylori; Mtb: Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Rp: Rickettsia prowazekii; Sp: Streptococcus pyogenes; Sy: Synechocystis Sp; Tp: Treponema pallidum; Aa: Aquifex aeolicus; Tm: Thermotoga maritima; Ct: Chlamydia trachomatis; Mg: Mycoplasma genitalium; Mpn: Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Uu: Ureaplasma urealyticum; Af: Archeoglobus flugidus; Ap: Aeropyrum pernix; Mj: Methanococcus jannaschii; Mt: Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum; Ph: Pyrococcus horikoshii; Pa: Pyrococcus abyssi.

Methods:T
he database of complete complete genomes was searched at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Microb_blast/unfinishedgenome.html
using E. coli amino acid sequences for all of the Fts genes (B. subtilis for SMC) and the tblastn algorithm (Altschul, 1997). All hits that look significant are indicated as a 1. Those near the bottom of the Blast list, significantly below the others, are indicated with 1? to indicate a probable homolog, but questionable. 0? indicates even weaker hits, ones that don't seem meaningful.

*Footnotes:
1. FtsQ has a functional analogdivIB in B. subtilis , which has only very weak sequence homology to ftsQ. divIB genes are found in several gram positive bacteria.
2. The B. subtilis homolog of E. coli ftsK is called spoIIIE. Several of the ftsK genes are shorter than the E. coli gene and match only the second half. Several bacteria have additional proteins with weaker homology to ftsK, and we have not made an exhaustive attempt to classify these.
3. A number of species have genes with weak homology to E. coli minD, and have been classified separately as S0g, ParA and ParB.

4. SMCs are a family of proteins involved in DNA condensation. Some gram negative bacteria have a MukB protein, which is distantly related to SMC's but probably a functional homolog. Several other distantly related proteins such as E. coli SbcC, are not included. See Melby et al.1999 (J. Cell Biol. 142:1595) for a detailed discussion of the SMC/MukB family.

See Erickson, H.P. "Dynamin and FtsZ: missing links in mitochondrial and bacterial division."
J. Cell Biol. 148:1103. for discussion of FtsZ in mitochondria and chloroplasts, and for the
three bacteria with no FtsZ.