Self-organization of the MinE ring in subcellular Min oscillations

Abstract

We model the self-organization of the MinE ring that is observed during subcellular oscillations of the proteins MinD and MinE within the rod-shaped bacterium {\it Escherichia coli}. With a steady-state approximation, we can study the MinE-ring generically -- apart from the other details of the Min oscillation. Rebinding of MinE to depolymerizing MinD filament tips controls MinE ring formation through a scaled cell shape parameter $\tilde{r}$. We find two types of E-ring profiles near the filament tip: a strong plateau-like E-ring controlled by 1D diffusion of MinE along the bacterial length, or a weak cusp-like E-ring controlled by 3D diffusion near the filament tip. While the width of a strong E-ring depends on $\tilde{r}$, the occupation fraction of MinE at the MinD filament tip is saturated and hence the depolymerization speed do not depend strongly on $\tilde{r}$. Conversely, for weak E-rings both $\tilde{r}$ and the MinE to MinD stoichiometry strongly control the tip occupation and hence the depolymerization speed. MinE rings {\em in vivo} are close to the threshold between weak and strong, and so MinD-filament depolymerization speed should be sensitive to cell shape, stoichiometry, and the MinE-rebinding rate. We also find that the transient to MinE-ring formation is quite long in the appropriate open geometry for assays of ATPase activity {\it in vitro}, explaining the long delays of ATPase activity observed for smaller MinE concentrations in those assays without the need to invoke cooperative MinE activity.