Identification of FacZ as a division site placement factor inStaphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureusis a gram-positive pathogen responsible for life-threatening infections that are difficult to treat due to antibiotic resistance. The identification of new vulnerabilities in essential processes like cell envelope biogenesis represents a promising avenue towards the development of anti-staphylococcal therapies that overcome resistance. To this end, we performed cell sorting-based enrichments forS. aureusmutants with defects in envelope integrity and cell division. We identified many known envelope biogenesis factors as well as a large collection of new factors with roles in this process. Mutants inactivated for one of the hits, the uncharacterized SAOUHSC_01855 protein, displayed aberrant membrane invaginations and multiple FtsZ cytokinetic ring structures. This factor is broadly distributed among Firmicutes, and its inactivation inB. subtilissimilarly caused division and membrane defects. We therefore renamed the protein FacZ (<underline>F</underline>irmicute-<underline>a</underline>ssociated<underline>c</underline>oordinator of<underline>Z</underline>-rings). InS. aureus, inactivation of the conserved cell division protein GpsB suppressed the division and morphological defects offacZmutants. Additionally, FacZ and GpsB were found to interact directly in a purified system. Thus, FacZ is a novel antagonist of GpsB function with a conserved role in controlling division site placement inS. aureusand other Firmicutes.