Abstract 1943 Investigating the pathways in which cyanobacterial cell division is controlled

Circadian rhythms, driven by an endogenous circadian clock, are daily rhythms of biological activities. Although found ubiquitously throughout nature, cyanobacteria are the only known prokaryotes to possess a robust clock. The circadian clock of Synechococcus elongatus, the model system used to study cyanobacterial clocks, consists of KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC core-oscillator proteins. In constant light conditions, the circadian clock inhibits cell division for ∼6 hours at dusk in a process known as circadian gating, where FtsZ, which assembles the tubulin ring necessary for division, is inhibited.