Spatial Regulators for Bacterial Cell Division Self-Organize into an Oscillator on a Flat Bilayer

The E. coli Min system self-organizes into a cell-pole to cell-pole oscillator on the membrane to position cell division at mid-cell. We reconstituted and visualized the Min system on a flat lipid bilayer under protein depletion conditions and identified a pattern we call ‘bursts’ - radially expanding bilayer binding centers of the MinD ATPase that are corralled and disassembled by a ring of the ATPase stimulator, MinE. Bursts share several features with in vivo dynamics such as the ability to oscillate. We propose a patterning mechanism whereby the Min system self-organizes into an oscillator without the spatial confinement of a bacterial cell.