RodZ is required for determination of cell shape in rod-shaped bacterium, such as Escherichia coli. RodZ is a transmembrane protein and forms a supramolecular complex called the Rod complex with other proteins, such as MreB-actin and peptidoglycan synthesis enzymes (for e.g., PBP2). Deletion of the rodZ gene changes the cell shape from rod to round or ovoid. Another supramolecular complex called divisome that controls cell division mainly consists of FtsZ-tubulin. MreB directly interacts with FtsZ and this interaction is critical to trigger a transition from cell elongation to cell division. Recently, we found that RodZ also directly interacts with FtsZ, and RodZ recruits MreB to the divisome. Formation of the division ring, called Z ring, is delayed if RodZ does not interact with FtsZ, indicating that RodZ might facilitate the formation of the Z ring during the cell division process. In this mini-review, we have summarized the roles of RodZ in cell elongation and cell division, especially based on our recent study.

中文翻译：

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RodZ：大肠杆菌细胞延长和细胞分裂的关键参与者

RodZ是确定杆状细菌（例如大肠杆菌）中细胞形状所必需的。RodZ是跨膜蛋白，与其他蛋白质（例如MreB-肌动蛋白和肽聚糖合成酶（例如PBP2））形成称为Rod复合物的超分子复合物。rodZ基因的缺失将细胞形状从杆状变为圆形或卵形。另一种控制细胞分裂的超分子复合物称为divisome，主要由FtsZ-微管蛋白组成。MreB与FtsZ直接相互作用，这种相互作用对于触发从细胞伸长到细胞分裂的转变至关重要。最近，我们发现RodZ也直接与FtsZ交互，并且RodZ将MreB募集到了小体。如果RodZ不与FtsZ相互作用，则称为Z环的分隔环的形成被延迟，表明RodZ可能有助于细胞分裂过程中Z环的形成。在此微型审查中，我们总结了RodZ在细胞伸长和细胞分裂中的作用，尤其是基于我们最近的研究。