DivIVA Is Required for Polar Growth in the MreB-Lacking Rod-Shaped ActinomyceteCorynebacterium glutamicum

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Abstract
The actinomyceteCorynebacterium glutamicumgrows as rod-shaped cells by zonal peptidoglycan synthesis at the cell poles. In this bacterium, experimental depletion of the polar DivIVA protein (DivIVACg) resulted in the inhibition of polar growth; consequently, these cells exhibited a coccoid morphology. This result demonstrated that DivIVA is required for cell elongation and the acquisition of a rod shape. DivIVA fromStreptomycesorMycobacteriumlocalized to the cell poles of DivIVACg-depletedC. glutamicumand restored polar peptidoglycan synthesis, in contrast to DivIVA proteins fromBacillus subtilisorStreptococcus pneumoniae, which localized at the septum ofC. glutamicum. This confirmed that DivIVAs from actinomycetes are involved in polarized cell growth. DivIVACglocalized at the septum after cell wall synthesis had started and the nucleoids had already segregated, suggesting that inC. glutamicumDivIVA is not involved in cell division or chromosome segregation.