Mechanics and dynamics of translocating mreb filaments on curved membranes

MreB is an actin homolog that 1 is essential for coordinating the cell wall synthesis required for the rod shape ofmany bacteria. Previouslywe have shown that filaments ofMreB bind to the curvedmembranes of bacteria and translocate in directions determined by principal membrane curvatures to create and reinforce the rod shape (Hussain et al., 2018). Here, in order to understand howMreB filament dynamics affects their cellular distribution, we model how MreB filaments bind and translocate on membranes with different geometries. We find that it is both energetically favorable and robust for filaments to bind and orient along directions of largestmembrane curvature. Furthermore, significant localization to different membrane regions results from processive MreB motion in various geometries. These results demonstrate that the in vivo localization of MreB observed in many different experiments, including those examining negative Gaussian curvature, can arise from translocation dynamics alone.