Figure 4.

3‐MBA sensitive mutants are specifically affected in cell division. (A–F) Morphology of B. subtilis and S. aureus mutants sensitive to 3‐MBA. (A–C) S. aureus strain G196A and (D–F) B. subtilis strain DWA23 (FtsZ G196S) were grown at 37°C in TSB and LB respectively. Cells were examined by phase‐contrast microscopy following growth for 2 h in the presence of DMSO (1% v/v) (A and D), PC190723 (8 μg ml⁻¹) (B and E) and 3‐MBA (10 mM) (C and F), as indicated. Arrowheads highlight unusual cell division events. (G–I) Localisation of EzrA‐CFP in a S. aureus  FtsZ G196A background. Cells of strain DWA56 (EzrA‐CFP, FtsZ G196A) were grown at 30°C in TSB containing DMSO (1% v/v) (G), PC190723 (4 μg ml⁻¹) (H) and 3‐MBA (20 mM) (I), as indicated. Scale bars = 5 μm.