Dynamic oscillation of the Min system in Escherichia coli determines the placement of the division plane at the midcell. In addition to stimulating MinD ATPase activity, we report here that MinE can directly interact with the membrane and this interaction contributes to the proper MinDE localization and dynamics. The N-terminal domain of MinE is involved in direct contact between MinE and the membranes that may subsequently be stabilized by the C-terminal domain of MinE. In an in vitro system, MinE caused liposome deformation into membrane tubules, a property similar to that previously reported for MinD. We isolated a mutant MinE containing residue substitutions in R10, K11 and K12 that was fully capable of stimulating MinD ATPase activity, but was deficient in membrane binding. Importantly, this mutant was unable to support normal MinDE localization and oscillation, suggesting that direct MinE interaction with the membrane is critical for the dynamic behavior of the Min system.

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Pole-to-pole oscillations of the Min proteins in Escherichia coli are required for the proper placement of the division septum. Direct interaction of MinE with the cell membrane is critical for the dynamic behavior of the Min system. In vitro, this MinE-membrane interaction led to membrane deformation; however, the underlying mechanism remained unclear. Here we report that MinE-induced membrane deformation involves the formation of an amphipathic helix of MinE2–9, which, together with the adjacent basic residues, function as membrane anchors. Biochemical evidence suggested that the membrane association induces formation of the helix, with the helical face, consisting of A2, L3, and F6, inserted into the membrane. Insertion of this helix into the cell membrane can influence local membrane curvature and lead to drastic changes in membrane topology. Accordingly, MinE showed characteristic features of protein-induced membrane tubulation and lipid clustering in in vitro reconstituted systems. In conclusion, MinE shares common protein signatures with a group of membrane trafficking proteins in eukaryotic cells. These MinE signatures appear to affect membrane curvature.

Feature selection is a fundamental problem in machine learning and data mining. How to choose the most problem-related features from a set of collected features is essential. In this paper, a novel method using correlation coefficient clustering in removing similar/redundant features is proposed. The collected features are grouped into clusters by measuring their correlation coefficient values. The most class-dependent feature in each cluster is retained while others in the same cluster are removed. Thus, the most class-related and mutually unrelated features are identified. The proposed method was applied to two datasets: the disordered protein dataset and the Arrhythmia (ARR) dataset. The experimental results show that the method is superior to other feature selection methods in speed and/or accuracy. Detail discussions are given in the paper.

A polarization-independent and high-diffraction-efficiency Fresnel lens is developed based on blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs). The optically isotropic characteristic of BPLCs is used to produce a polarization-independent Fresnel lens. The small optical phase shift of BPLCs that is induced by the Kerr effect is sufficient for the BPLC Fresnel lens to have high theoretical and experimental diffraction efficiencies of 41% and ∼34%, respectively. An electrically erasable memory effect in the focusing diffraction at an electric field E>4.44 V/μm is observed. The electro-optical properties of the BPLC Fresnel lens are analyzed and discussed.