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Cornet F, Blanchais C, Dusfour-Castan R, Meunier A, Quebre V, Sekkouri Alaoui H, Boudsoq F, Campos M, Crozat E, Guynet C, Pasta F, Rousseau P, Ton Hoang B, Bouet JY. DNA Segregation in Enterobacteria. EcoSal Plus 2023; 11:eesp00382020. [PMID: 37220081 PMCID: PMC10729935 DOI: 10.1128/ecosalplus.esp-0038-2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024]
Abstract
DNA segregation ensures that cell offspring receive at least one copy of each DNA molecule, or replicon, after their replication. This important cellular process includes different phases leading to the physical separation of the replicons and their movement toward the future daughter cells. Here, we review these phases and processes in enterobacteria with emphasis on the molecular mechanisms at play and their controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- François Cornet
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Corentin Blanchais
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Romane Dusfour-Castan
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Alix Meunier
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Valentin Quebre
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Hicham Sekkouri Alaoui
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - François Boudsoq
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Manuel Campos
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Estelle Crozat
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Catherine Guynet
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Franck Pasta
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Philippe Rousseau
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Bao Ton Hoang
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
| | - Jean-Yves Bouet
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires (LMGM), Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
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2
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Salerno P, Leckenby MW, Humphrey B, Cranenburgh RM. Xer Recombination for the Automatic Deletion of Selectable Marker Genes From Plasmids in Enteric Bacteria. Synth Biol (Oxf) 2022; 7:ysac005. [PMID: 35601876 PMCID: PMC9113270 DOI: 10.1093/synbio/ysac005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Antibiotic resistance genes are widely used to select bacteria transformed with plasmids and to prevent plasmid loss from cultures, yet antibiotics represent contaminants in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing process, and retaining antibiotic resistance genes in vaccines and biological therapies is discouraged by regulatory agencies. To overcome these limitations, we have developed X-mark™, a novel technology that leverages Xer recombination to generate selectable marker gene-free plasmids for downstream therapeutic applications. Using this technique, X-mark plasmids with antibiotic resistance genes flanked by XerC/D target sites are generated in Escherichia coli cytosol aminopeptidase (E. coli pepA) mutants, which are deficient in Xer recombination on plasmids, and subsequently transformed into enteric bacteria with a functional Xer system. This results in rapid deletion of the resistance gene at high resolution (100%) and stable replication of resolved plasmids for more than 40 generations in the absence of antibiotic selective pressure. This technology is effective in both Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica bacteria due to the high degree of homology between accessory sequences, including strains that have been developed as oral vaccines for clinical use. X-mark effectively eliminates any regulatory and safety concerns around antibiotic resistance carryover in biopharmaceutical products, such as vaccines and therapeutic proteins.
Graphical Abstract
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Salerno
- London Bioscience Innovation Centre, Prokarium Ltd, London, UK
| | - Matthew W Leckenby
- Cobra Biologics Ltd, Stephenson Building, Keele Science Park, Keele, Staffordshire, UK
| | - Bruce Humphrey
- London Bioscience Innovation Centre, Prokarium Ltd, London, UK
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3
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Balalovski P, Grainge I. Mobilization of p
dif
modules in
Acinetobacter
: A novel mechanism for antibiotic resistance gene shuffling? Mol Microbiol 2020; 114:699-709. [DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2020] [Revised: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Phillip Balalovski
- Biological Sciences School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle Callaghan NSW Australia
| | - Ian Grainge
- Biological Sciences School of Environmental and Life Sciences University of Newcastle Callaghan NSW Australia
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4
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Castillo F, Benmohamed A, Szatmari G. Xer Site Specific Recombination: Double and Single Recombinase Systems. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:453. [PMID: 28373867 PMCID: PMC5357621 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The separation and segregation of newly replicated bacterial chromosomes can be constrained by the formation of circular chromosome dimers caused by crossing over during homologous recombination events. In Escherichia coli and most bacteria, dimers are resolved to monomers by site-specific recombination, a process performed by two Chromosomally Encoded tyrosine Recombinases (XerC and XerD). XerCD recombinases act at a 28 bp recombination site dif, which is located at the replication terminus region of the chromosome. The septal protein FtsK controls the initiation of the dimer resolution reaction, so that recombination occurs at the right time (immediately prior to cell division) and at the right place (cell division septum). XerCD and FtsK have been detected in nearly all sequenced eubacterial genomes including Proteobacteria, Archaea, and Firmicutes. However, in Streptococci and Lactococci, an alternative system has been found, composed of a single recombinase (XerS) genetically linked to an atypical 31 bp recombination site (difSL). A similar recombination system has also been found in 𝜀-proteobacteria such as Campylobacter and Helicobacter, where a single recombinase (XerH) acts at a resolution site called difH. Most Archaea contain a recombinase called XerA that acts on a highly conserved 28 bp sequence dif, which appears to act independently of FtsK. Additionally, several mobile elements have been found to exploit the dif/Xer system to integrate their genomes into the host chromosome in Vibrio cholerae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Enterobacter cloacae. This review highlights the versatility of dif/Xer recombinase systems in prokaryotes and summarizes our current understanding of homologs of dif/Xer machineries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Castillo
- Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, MontréalQC, Canada
| | | | - George Szatmari
- Département de Microbiologie, Infectiologie et Immunologie, Université de Montréal, MontréalQC, Canada
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5
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Galli E, Midonet C, Paly E, Barre FX. Fast growth conditions uncouple the final stages of chromosome segregation and cell division in Escherichia coli. PLoS Genet 2017; 13:e1006702. [PMID: 28358835 PMCID: PMC5391129 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1006702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2016] [Revised: 04/13/2017] [Accepted: 03/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Homologous recombination between the circular chromosomes of bacteria can generate chromosome dimers. They are resolved by a recombination event at a specific site in the replication terminus of chromosomes, dif, by dedicated tyrosine recombinases. The reaction is under the control of a cell division protein, FtsK, which assembles into active DNA pumps at mid-cell during septum formation. Previous studies suggested that activation of Xer recombination at dif was restricted to chromosome dimers in Escherichia coli but not in Vibrio cholerae, suggesting that FtsK mainly acted on chromosome dimers in E. coli but frequently processed monomeric chromosomes in V. cholerae. However, recent microscopic studies suggested that E. coli FtsK served to release the MatP-mediated cohesion and/or cell division apparatus-interaction of sister copies of the dif region independently of chromosome dimer formation. Here, we show that these apparently paradoxical observations are not linked to any difference in the dimer resolution machineries of E. coli and V. cholerae but to differences in the timing of segregation of their chromosomes. V. cholerae harbours two circular chromosomes, chr1 and chr2. We found that whatever the growth conditions, sister copies of the V. cholerae chr1 dif region remain together at mid-cell until the onset of constriction, which permits their processing by FtsK and the activation of dif-recombination. Likewise, sister copies of the dif region of the E. coli chromosome only separate after the onset of constriction in slow growth conditions. However, under fast growth conditions the dif sites separate before constriction, which restricts XerCD-dif activity to resolving chromosome dimers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Galli
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Gif sur Yvette, France
| | - Caroline Midonet
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Gif sur Yvette, France
| | - Evelyne Paly
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Gif sur Yvette, France
| | - François-Xavier Barre
- Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, Gif sur Yvette, France
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6
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Activation of Xer-recombination at dif: structural basis of the FtsKγ-XerD interaction. Sci Rep 2016; 6:33357. [PMID: 27708355 PMCID: PMC5052618 DOI: 10.1038/srep33357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2016] [Accepted: 08/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial chromosomes are most often circular DNA molecules. This can produce a topological problem; a genetic crossover from homologous recombination results in dimerization of the chromosome. A chromosome dimer is lethal unless resolved. A site-specific recombination system catalyses this dimer-resolution reaction at the chromosomal site dif. In Escherichia coli, two tyrosine-family recombinases, XerC and XerD, bind to dif and carry out two pairs of sequential strand exchange reactions. However, what makes the reaction unique among site-specific recombination reactions is that the first step, XerD-mediated strand exchange, relies on interaction with the very C-terminus of the FtsK DNA translocase. FtsK is a powerful molecular motor that functions in cell division, co-ordinating division with clearing chromosomal DNA from the site of septation and also acts to position the dif sites for recombination. This is a model system for unlinking, separating and segregating large DNA molecules. Here we describe the molecular detail of the interaction between XerD and FtsK that leads to activation of recombination as deduced from a co-crystal structure, biochemical and in vivo experiments. FtsKγ interacts with the C-terminal domain of XerD, above a cleft where XerC is thought to bind. We present a model for activation of recombination based on structural data.
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7
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8
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Xer Site-Specific Recombination: Promoting Vertical and Horizontal Transmission of Genetic Information. Microbiol Spectr 2016; 2. [PMID: 26104463 DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.mdna3-0056-2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Two related tyrosine recombinases, XerC and XerD, are encoded in the genome of most bacteria where they serve to resolve dimers of circular chromosomes by the addition of a crossover at a specific site, dif. From a structural and biochemical point of view they belong to the Cre resolvase family of tyrosine recombinases. Correspondingly, they are exploited for the resolution of multimers of numerous plasmids. In addition, they are exploited by mobile DNA elements to integrate into the genome of their host. Exploitation of Xer is likely to be advantageous to mobile elements because the conservation of the Xer recombinases and of the sequence of their chromosomal target should permit a quite easy extension of their host range. However, it requires means to overcome the cellular mechanisms that normally restrict recombination to dif sites harbored by a chromosome dimer and, in the case of integrative mobile elements, to convert dedicated tyrosine resolvases into integrases.
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9
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Crozat E, Rousseau P, Fournes F, Cornet F. The FtsK family of DNA translocases finds the ends of circles. J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 2015; 24:396-408. [PMID: 25732341 DOI: 10.1159/000369213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A global view of bacterial chromosome choreography during the cell cycle is emerging, highlighting as a next challenge the description of the molecular mechanisms and factors involved. Here, we review one such factor, the FtsK family of DNA translocases. FtsK is a powerful and fast translocase that reads chromosome polarity. It couples segregation of the chromosome with cell division and controls the last steps of segregation in time and space. The second model protein of the family SpoIIIE acts in the transfer of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome during sporulation. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms used by FtsK and SpoIIIE to segregate chromosomes with emphasis on the latest advances and open questions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estelle Crozat
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique Moléculaires, CNRS, and Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
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10
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Krasich R, Wu SY, Kuo HK, Kreuzer KN. Functions that protect Escherichia coli from DNA-protein crosslinks. DNA Repair (Amst) 2015; 28:48-59. [PMID: 25731940 DOI: 10.1016/j.dnarep.2015.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2014] [Revised: 01/27/2015] [Accepted: 01/30/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Pathways for tolerating and repairing DNA-protein crosslinks (DPCs) are poorly defined. We used transposon mutagenesis and candidate gene approaches to identify DPC-hypersensitive Escherichia coli mutants. DPCs were induced by azacytidine (aza-C) treatment in cells overexpressing cytosine methyltransferase; hypersensitivity was verified to depend on methyltransferase expression. We isolated hypersensitive mutants that were uncovered in previous studies (recA, recBC, recG, and uvrD), hypersensitive mutants that apparently activate phage Mu Gam expression, and novel hypersensitive mutants in genes involved in DNA metabolism, cell division, and tRNA modification (dinG, ftsK, xerD, dnaJ, hflC, miaA, mnmE, mnmG, and ssrA). Inactivation of SbcCD, which can cleave DNA at protein-DNA complexes, did not cause hypersensitivity. We previously showed that tmRNA pathway defects cause aza-C hypersensitivity, implying that DPCs block coupled transcription/translation complexes. Here, we show that mutants in tRNA modification functions miaA, mnmE and mnmG cause defects in aza-C-induced tmRNA tagging, explaining their hypersensitivity. In order for tmRNA to access a stalled ribosome, the mRNA must be cleaved or released from RNA polymerase. Mutational inactivation of functions involved in mRNA processing and RNA polymerase elongation/release (RNase II, RNaseD, RNase PH, RNase LS, Rep, HepA, GreA, GreB) did not cause aza-C hypersensitivity; the mechanism of tmRNA access remains unclear.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Krasich
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710, United States
| | - Sunny Yang Wu
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710, United States
| | - H Kenny Kuo
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710, United States
| | - Kenneth N Kreuzer
- Department of Biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710, United States.
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11
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Abstract
Bacteria can rapidly evolve resistance to antibiotics via the SOS response, a state of high-activity DNA repair and mutagenesis. We explore here the first steps of this evolution in the bacterium Escherichia coli. Induction of the SOS response by the genotoxic antibiotic ciprofloxacin changes the E. coli rod shape into multichromosome-containing filaments. We show that at subminimal inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin the bacterial filament divides asymmetrically repeatedly at the tip. Chromosome-containing buds are made that, if resistant, propagate nonfilamenting progeny with enhanced resistance to ciprofloxacin as the parent filament dies. We propose that the multinucleated filament creates an environmental niche where evolution can proceed via generation of improved mutant chromosomes due to the mutagenic SOS response and possible recombination of the new alleles between chromosomes. Our data provide a better understanding of the processes underlying the origin of resistance at the single-cell level and suggest an analogous role to the eukaryotic aneuploidy condition in cancer.
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12
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Das B. Mechanistic insights into filamentous phage integration in Vibrio cholerae. Front Microbiol 2014; 5:650. [PMID: 25506341 PMCID: PMC4246890 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2014] [Accepted: 11/10/2014] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Vibrio cholerae, the etiological agent of acute diarrhoeal disease cholera, harbors large numbers of lysogenic filamentous phages, contribute significantly to the host pathogenesis and provide fitness factors to the pathogen that help the bacterium to survive in natural environment. Most of the vibriophage genomes are not equipped with integrase and thus exploit two host-encoded tyrosine recombinases, XerC and XerD, for lysogenic conversion. Integration is site-specific and it occurs at dimer resolution site (dif) of either one or both chromosomes of V. cholerae. Each dif sequence contains two recombinase-binding sequences flanking a central region. The integration follows a sequential strand exchanges between dif and attP sites within a DNA-protein complex consisting of one pair of each recombinase and two DNA fragments. During entire process of recombination, both the DNA components and recombinases of the synaptic complex keep transiently interconnected. Within the context of synaptic complex, both of the actuated enzymes mediate cleavage of phosphodiester bonds. First cleavage generates a phosphotyrosyl-linked recombinase-DNA complex at the recombinase binding sequence and free 5′-hydroxyl end at the first base of the central region. Following the cleavage, the exposed bases with 5′-hydroxyl ends of the central region of dif and attP sites melt from their complementary strands and react with the recombinase-DNA phosphotyrosyl linkage of their recombining partner. Subsequent ligation between dif and attP strands requires complementary base pair interactions at the site of phosphodiester bond formation. Integration mechanism is mostly influenced by the compatibility of dif and attP sequences. dif sites are highly conserved across bacterial phyla. Different phage genomes have different attP sequences; therefore they rely on different mechanisms for integration. Here, I review our current understanding of integration mechanisms used by the vibriophages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhabatosh Das
- Centre for Human Microbial Ecology, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute Gurgaon, India
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13
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Besprozvannaya M, Burton BM. Do the same traffic rules apply? Directional chromosome segregation by SpoIIIE and FtsK. Mol Microbiol 2014; 93:599-608. [PMID: 25040776 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.12708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Over a decade of studies have tackled the question of how FtsK/SpoIIIE translocases establish and maintain directional DNA translocation during chromosome segregation in bacteria. FtsK/SpoIIIE translocases move DNA in a highly processive, directional manner, where directionality is facilitated by sequences on the substrate DNA molecules that are being transported. In recent years, structural, biochemical, single-molecule and high-resolution microscopic studies have provided new insight into the mechanistic details of directional DNA segregation. Out of this body of work, a series of models have emerged and, ultimately, yielded two seemingly opposing models: the loading model and the target search model. We review these recent mechanistic insights into directional DNA movement and discuss the data that may serve to unite these suggested models, as well as propose future directions that may ultimately solve the debate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Besprozvannaya
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
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14
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The N-terminal membrane-spanning domain of the Escherichia coli DNA translocase FtsK hexamerizes at midcell. mBio 2013; 4:e00800-13. [PMID: 24302254 PMCID: PMC3870252 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00800-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Bacterial FtsK plays a key role in coordinating cell division with the late stages of chromosome segregation. The N-terminal membrane-spanning domain of FtsK is required for cell division, whereas the C-terminal domain is a fast double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) translocase that brings the replication termination region of the chromosome to midcell, where it facilitates chromosome unlinking by activating XerCD-dif site-specific recombination. Therefore, FtsK coordinates the late stages of chromosome segregation with cell division. Although the translocase is known to act as a hexamer on DNA, it is unknown when and how hexamers form, as is the number of FtsK molecules in the cell and within the divisome. Using single-molecule live-cell imaging, we show that newborn Escherichia coli cells growing in minimal medium contain ~40 membrane-bound FtsK molecules that are largely monomeric; the numbers increase proportionately with cell growth. After recruitment to the midcell, FtsK is present only as hexamers. Hexamers are observed in all cells and form before any visible sign of cell constriction. An average of 7 FtsK hexamers per cell are present at midcell, with the N-terminal domain being able to hexamerize independently of the translocase. Detergent-solubilized and purified FtsK N-terminal domains readily form hexamers, as determined by in vitro biochemistry, thereby supporting the in vivo data. The hexameric state of the FtsK N-terminal domain at the division site may facilitate assembly of a functional C-terminal DNA translocase on chromosomal DNA. In the rod-shaped bacterium Escherichia coli, more than a dozen proteins act at the cell center to mediate cell division, which initiates while chromosome replication and segregation are under way. The protein FtsK coordinates cell division with the late stages of chromosome segregation. The N-terminal part of FtsK is membrane embedded and acts in division, while the C-terminal part forms a hexameric ring on chromosomal DNA, which the DNA can translocate rapidly to finalize chromosome segregation. Using quantitative live-cell imaging, which measures the position and number of FtsK molecules, we show that in all cells, FtsK hexamers form only at the cell center at the initiation of cell division. Furthermore, the FtsK N-terminal portion forms hexamers independently of the C-terminal translocase.
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15
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Abstract
FtsK is a multifunctional protein, which, in Escherichia coli, co-ordinates the essential functions of cell division, DNA unlinking and chromosome segregation. Its C-terminus is a DNA translocase, the fastest yet characterized, which acts as a septum-localized DNA pump. FtsK's C-terminus also interacts with the XerCD site-specific recombinases which act at the dif site, located in the terminus region. The motor domain of FtsK is an active translocase in vitro, and, when incubated with XerCD and a supercoiled plasmid containing two dif sites, recombination occurs to give unlinked circular products. Despite years of research the mechanism for this novel form of topological filter remains unknown.
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16
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The Xer/dif site-specific recombination system of Campylobacter jejuni. Mol Genet Genomics 2013; 288:495-502. [PMID: 23861023 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-013-0765-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2012] [Accepted: 06/20/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Chromosome dimers, which form during the bacterial life cycle, represent a problem that must be solved by the bacterial cell machinery so that chromosome segregation can occur effectively. The Xer/dif site-specific recombination system, utilized by most bacteria, resolves chromosome dimers into monomers using two tyrosine recombinases, XerC and XerD, to perform the recombination reaction at the dif site which consists of 28-30 bp. However, single Xer recombinase systems have been recently discovered in several bacterial species. In Streptococci and Lactococci a single recombinase, XerS, is capable of completing the monomerisation reaction by acting at an atypical dif site called dif SL (31 bp). It was recently shown that a subgroup of ε-proteobacteria including Campylobacter spp. and Helicobacter spp. had a phylogenetically distinct Xer/dif recombination system with only one recombinase (XerH) and an atypical dif motif (difH). In order to biochemically characterize this system in greater detail, Campylobacter jejuni XerH was purified and its DNA-binding activity was characterized. The protein showed specific binding to the complete difH site and to both halves separately. It was also shown to form covalent complexes with difH suicide substrates. In addition, XerH was able to catalyse recombination between two difH sites located on a plasmid in Escherichia coli in vivo. This indicates that this XerH protein performs a similar function as the related XerS protein, but shows significantly different binding characteristics.
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17
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Abstract
Bacteria use the replication origin-to-terminus polarity of their circular chromosomes to control DNA transactions during the cell cycle. Segregation starts by active migration of the region of origin followed by progressive movement of the rest of the chromosomes. The last steps of segregation have been studied extensively in the case of dimeric sister chromosomes and when chromosome organization is impaired by mutations. In these special cases, the divisome-associated DNA translocase FtsK is required. FtsK pumps chromosomes toward the dif chromosome dimer resolution site using polarity of the FtsK-orienting polar sequence (KOPS) DNA motifs. Assays based on monitoring dif recombination have suggested that FtsK acts only in these special cases and does not act on monomeric chromosomes. Using a two-color system to visualize pairs of chromosome loci in living cells, we show that the spatial resolution of sister loci is accurately ordered from the point of origin to the dif site. Furthermore, ordered segregation in a region ∼200 kb long surrounding dif depended on the oriented translocation activity of FtsK but not on the formation of dimers or their resolution. FtsK-mediated segregation required the MatP protein, which delays segregation of the dif-surrounding region until cell division. We conclude that FtsK segregates the terminus region of sister chromosomes whether they are monomeric or dimeric and does so in an accurate and ordered manner. Our data are consistent with a model in which FtsK acts to release the MatP-mediated cohesion and/or interaction with the division apparatus of the terminus region in a KOPS-oriented manner.
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Demarre G, Galli E, Barre FX. The FtsK Family of DNA Pumps. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2013; 767:245-62. [PMID: 23161015 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-5037-5_12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Interest for proteins of the FtsK family initially arose from their implication in many primordial processes in which DNA needs to be transported from one cell compartment to another in eubacteria. In the first section of this chapter, we address a list of the cellular functions of the different members of the FtsK family that have been so far studied. Soon after their discovery, interest for the FstK proteins spread because of their unique biochemical properties: most DNA transport systems rely on the assembly of complex multicomponent machines. In contrast, six FtsK proteins are sufficient to assemble into a fast and powerful DNA pump; the pump transports closed circular double stranded DNA molecules without any covalent-bond breakage nor topological alteration; transport is oriented despite the intrinsic symmetrical nature of the double stranded DNA helix and can occur across cell membranes. The different activities required for the oriented transport of DNA across cell compartments are achieved by three separate modules within the FtsK proteins: a DNA translocation module, an orientation module and an anchoring module. In the second part of this chapter, we review the structural and biochemical properties of these different modules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaëlle Demarre
- Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, Cedex, France,
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19
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Yano H, Genka H, Ohtsubo Y, Nagata Y, Top EM, Tsuda M. Cointegrate-resolution of toluene-catabolic transposon Tn4651: determination of crossover site and the segment required for full resolution activity. Plasmid 2012; 69:24-35. [PMID: 22878084 DOI: 10.1016/j.plasmid.2012.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2012] [Revised: 07/19/2012] [Accepted: 07/23/2012] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Tn3-family transposon Tn4651 from Pseudomonas putida mt-2 plasmid pWW0 carries two divergently transcribed genes, tnpS and tnpT, for cointegrate-resolution. While tnpS encodes a tyrosine recombinase, tnpT encodes a protein that shows no homology to any other characterized protein. The Tn4651 resolution site was previously mapped within the 203-bp fragment that covered the tnpS and tnpT promoter region. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the Tn4651 cointegrate-resolution, we determined the extent of the functional resolution site (designated the rst site) of Tn4651 and the location of the crossover site for the cointegrate-resolution. Deletion analysis of the rst region localized the fully functional rst site to a 136-bp segment. The analysis of the site-specific recombination between Tn4651 rst and a rst variant from the Tn4651-related transposon, Tn4661, indicated that the crossover occurs in the 33-bp inverted repeat region, which separates the 136-bp functional rst site into the tnpS- and tnpT-proximal segments. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated specific binding of TnpT to the 20-bp inverted repeat region in the tnpT-proximal segment. The requirement for accessory sequences on both sides of the crossover site and the involvement of the unique DNA-binding protein TnpT suggest that the Tn4651-specified resolution system uses a different mechanism than other known resolution systems. Furthermore, comparative sequence analysis for Tn4651-related transposons revealed the occurrence of DNA exchange at the rst site among different transposons, suggesting an additional role of the TnpS-TnpT-rst system in the evolution of Tn4651-related transposons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hirokazu Yano
- Department of Environmental Life Sciences, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
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Debowski AW, Carnoy C, Verbrugghe P, Nilsson HO, Gauntlett JC, Fulurija A, Camilleri T, Berg DE, Marshall BJ, Benghezal M. Xer recombinase and genome integrity in Helicobacter pylori, a pathogen without topoisomerase IV. PLoS One 2012; 7:e33310. [PMID: 22511919 PMCID: PMC3325230 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2011] [Accepted: 02/07/2012] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In the model organism E. coli, recombination mediated by the related XerC and XerD recombinases complexed with the FtsK translocase at specialized dif sites, resolves dimeric chromosomes into free monomers to allow efficient chromosome segregation at cell division. Computational genome analysis of Helicobacter pylori, a slow growing gastric pathogen, identified just one chromosomal xer gene (xerH) and its cognate dif site (difH). Here we show that recombination between directly repeated difH sites requires XerH, FtsK but not XerT, the TnPZ transposon associated recombinase. xerH inactivation was not lethal, but resulted in increased DNA per cell, suggesting defective chromosome segregation. The xerH mutant also failed to colonize mice, and was more susceptible to UV and ciprofloxacin, which induce DNA breakage, and thereby recombination and chromosome dimer formation. xerH inactivation and overexpression each led to a DNA segregation defect, suggesting a role for Xer recombination in regulation of replication. In addition to chromosome dimer resolution and based on the absence of genes for topoisomerase IV (parC, parE) in H. pylori, we speculate that XerH may contribute to chromosome decatenation, although possible involvement of H. pylori's DNA gyrase and topoisomerase III homologue are also considered. Further analyses of this system should contribute to general understanding of and possibly therapy development for H. pylori, which causes peptic ulcers and gastric cancer; for the closely related, diarrheagenic Campylobacter species; and for unrelated slow growing pathogens that lack topoisomerase IV, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra W. Debowski
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
| | - Christophe Carnoy
- United States of America Center for Infection and Immunity of Lille, INSERM U 1019, CNRS UMR 8204, Univ Lille Nord de France, Institut Pasteur de Lille, Lille, France
| | - Phebe Verbrugghe
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
| | - Hans-Olof Nilsson
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
| | - Jonathan C. Gauntlett
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
| | - Alma Fulurija
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
| | - Tania Camilleri
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
| | - Douglas E. Berg
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Barry J. Marshall
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
| | - Mohammed Benghezal
- Ondek Pty Ltd and Helicobacter pylori Research Laboratory, School of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, M504, Marshall Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Training, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Washington,
- * E-mail:
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21
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Grainge I, Lesterlin C, Sherratt DJ. Activation of XerCD-dif recombination by the FtsK DNA translocase. Nucleic Acids Res 2011; 39:5140-8. [PMID: 21371996 PMCID: PMC3130261 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkr078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The FtsK translocase pumps dsDNA directionally at ∼5 kb/s and facilitates chromosome unlinking by activating XerCD site-specific recombination at dif, located in the replication terminus of the Escherichia coli chromosome. We show directly that the γ regulatory subdomain of FtsK activates XerD catalytic activity to generate Holliday junction intermediates that can then be resolved by XerC. Furthermore, we demonstrate that γ can activate XerCD-dif recombination in the absence of the translocase domain, when it is fused to XerCD, or added in isolation. In these cases the recombination products are topologically complex and would impair chromosome unlinking. We propose that FtsK translocation and activation of unlinking are normally coupled, with the translocation being essential for ensuring that the products of recombination are topologically unlinked, an essential feature of the role of FtsK in chromosome segregation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian Grainge
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK.
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22
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Crozat E, Grainge I. FtsK DNA translocase: the fast motor that knows where it's going. Chembiochem 2011; 11:2232-43. [PMID: 20922738 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201000347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
FtsK is a double-stranded DNA translocase, a motor that converts the chemical energy of binding and hydrolysing ATP into movement of a DNA substrate. It moves DNA at an amazing rate->5000 bp per second-and is powerful enough to remove other proteins from the DNA. In bacteria it is localised to the site of cell division, the septum, where it functions as a DNA pump at the late stages of the cell cycle, to expedite cytokinesis and chromosome segregation. The N terminus of the protein is involved in the cell-cycle-specific localisation and assembly of the cell-division machinery, whereas the C terminus forms the motor. The motor portion of FtsK has been studied by a combination of biochemistry, genetics, X-ray crystallography and single-molecule mechanical assays, and these will be the focus here. The motor can be divided into three subdomains: α, β and γ. The α and β domains multimerise to produce a hexameric ring with a central channel for dsDNA, and contain a RecA-like nucleotide-binding/hydrolysis fold. The motor is given directionality by the regulatory γ domain, which binds to polarised chromosomal sequences-5'-GGGNAGGG-3', known as KOPS-to ensure that the motor is loaded onto DNA in a specific orientation such that subsequent translocation is always towards the region of the chromosome where replication usually terminates (the terminus), and specifically to the 28 bp dif site, located in this region. Once the FtsK translocase has located the dif site it then interacts with the XerCD site-specific recombinases to activate recombination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estelle Crozat
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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XerCD-mediated site-specific recombination leads to loss of the 57-kilobase gonococcal genetic island. J Bacteriol 2010; 193:377-88. [PMID: 21075927 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00948-10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Most strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae carry the 57-kb gonococcal genetic island (GGI), as do a few strains of Neisseria meningitidis. The GGI is inserted into the chromosome at the dif site (difA) and is flanked by a partial repeat of the dif site (difB). Since dif is a sequence recognized by the site-specific recombinases XerC and XerD and the GGI shows evidence of horizontal acquisition, we hypothesized that the GGI may be acquired or lost by XerCD-mediated site-specific recombination. We show that while the GGI flanked by wild-type dif sites, difA and difB, is not readily lost from the gonococcal chromosome, the substitution of difB with another copy of difA allows the frequent excision and loss of the GGI. In mutants carrying two difA sites (difA(+) difA(+)), the GGI can be detected as an extrachromosomal circle that exists transiently. A mutation of xerD diminished GGI excision from the chromosome of a difA(+) difA(+) strain, while mutations in recA or type IV secretion genes had no effect on the loss of the GGI. These data indicate that the GGI is maintained by the replication of the chromosome and that GGI excision and loss are dependent upon the dif sequence and xerD. The detection of a circular form of the GGI in a wild-type strain suggests that GGI excision may occur naturally and could function to facilitate GGI transfer. These data suggest a model of GGI excision and loss explaining the absence of the GGI from some gonococcal strains and the maintenance of variant GGIs in some gonococcal and meningococcal isolates.
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Dubarry N, Possoz C, Barre FX. Multiple regions along the Escherichia coli FtsK protein are implicated in cell division. Mol Microbiol 2010; 78:1088-100. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07412.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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25
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Abstract
Escherichia coli FtsK is a septum-located DNA translocase that co-ordinates the late stages of cytokinesis and chromosome segregation. Relatives of FtsK are present in most bacteria; in Bacillus subtilis, the FtsK orthologue, SpoIIIE, transfers the majority of a chromosome into the forespore during sporulation. DNA translocase activity is contained within a ~ 512-amino-acid C-terminal domain, which is divided into three subdomains: alpha, beta and gamma. alpha and beta comprise the translocation motor, and gamma is a regulatory domain that interacts with DNA and with the XerD recombinase. In vitro rates of translocation of ~ 5 kb.s(-1) have been measured for both FtsK and SpoIIIE, whereas, in vivo, SpoIIIE has a comparable rate of translocation. Translocation by both of these proteins is not only rapid, but also directed by DNA sequence. This directionality requires interaction of the gamma subdomain with specific 8 bp DNA asymmetric sequences that are oriented co-directionally with replication direction of the bacterial chromosome. The gamma subdomain also interacts with the XerCD site-specific recombinase to activate chromosome unlinking by recombination at the chromosomal dif site. In the present paper, the properties in vivo and in vitro of FtsK and its relatives are discussed in relation to the biological functions of these remarkable enzymes.
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26
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Crozat E, Meglio A, Allemand JF, Chivers CE, Howarth M, Vénien-Bryan C, Grainge I, Sherratt DJ. Separating speed and ability to displace roadblocks during DNA translocation by FtsK. EMBO J 2010; 29:1423-33. [PMID: 20379135 PMCID: PMC2868570 DOI: 10.1038/emboj.2010.29] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2009] [Accepted: 02/12/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
FtsK translocates dsDNA directionally at >5 kb/s, even under strong forces. In vivo, the action of FtsK at the bacterial division septum is required to complete the final stages of chromosome unlinking and segregation. Despite the availability of translocase structures, the mechanism by which ATP hydrolysis is coupled to DNA translocation is not understood. Here, we use covalently linked translocase subunits to gain insight into the DNA translocation mechanism. Covalent trimers of wild-type subunits dimerized efficiently to form hexamers with high translocation activity and an ability to activate XerCD-dif chromosome unlinking. Covalent trimers with a catalytic mutation in the central subunit formed hexamers with two mutated subunits that had robust ATPase activity. They showed wild-type translocation velocity in single-molecule experiments, activated translocation-dependent chromosome unlinking, but had an impaired ability to displace either a triplex oligonucleotide, or streptavidin linked to biotin-DNA, during translocation along DNA. This separation of translocation velocity and ability to displace roadblocks is more consistent with a sequential escort mechanism than stochastic, hand-off, or concerted mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Estelle Crozat
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Adrien Meglio
- Laboratoire de Physique Statistique et Département de Biologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UPMC, Paris 06, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Jean-François Allemand
- Laboratoire de Physique Statistique et Département de Biologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UPMC, Paris 06, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS, Paris, France
| | | | - Mark Howarth
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Ian Grainge
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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Laprise J, Yoneji S, Gardner JF. Homology-dependent interactions determine the order of strand exchange by IntDOT recombinase. Nucleic Acids Res 2009; 38:958-69. [PMID: 19952068 PMCID: PMC2817482 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkp927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Bacteroides conjugative transposon CTnDOT encodes an integrase, IntDOT, which is a member of the tyrosine recombinase family. Other members of this group share a strict requirement for sequence identity within the region of strand exchange, called the overlap region. Tyrosine recombinases catalyze recombination by making an initial cleavage, strand exchange and ligation, followed by strand swapping isomerization requiring sequence identity in the overlap region, followed by the second cleavage, strand exchange and ligation. IntDOT is of particular interest because it has been shown to utilize a three-step mechanism: a sequence identity-dependent initial strand exchange that requires two base pairs of complementary DNA at the site of cleavage; a sequence identity-independent strand swapping isomerization, followed by a sequence identity-independent cleavage, strand exchange and ligation. In addition to the sequence identity requirement in the overlap region, Lambda Int interactions with arm-type sites dictate the order of strand exchange regardless of the orientation of the overlap region. Although IntDOT has an arm-binding domain, we show here that the location of sequence identity within the overlap region dictates where the initial cleavage takes place and that IntDOT can recombine substrates containing mismatches in the overlap region so long as a single base of sequence identity exists at the site of initial cleavage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Laprise
- Department of Microbiology and College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
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28
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Kaimer C, González-Pastor JE, Graumann PL. SpoIIIE and a novel type of DNA translocase, SftA, couple chromosome segregation with cell division in Bacillus subtilis. Mol Microbiol 2009; 74:810-25. [PMID: 19818024 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06894.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Cell division must only occur once daughter chromosomes have been fully separated. However, the initiating event of bacterial cell division, assembly of the FtsZ ring, occurs while chromosome segregation is still ongoing. We show that a two-step DNA translocase system exists in Bacillus subtilis that couples chromosome segregation and cell division. The membrane-bound DNA translocase SpoIIIE assembled very late at the division septum, and only upon entrapment of DNA, while its orthologue, SftA (YtpST), assembled at each septum in B. subtilis soon after FtsZ. Lack of SftA resulted in a moderate segregation defect at a late stage in the cell cycle. Like the loss of SpoIIIE, the absence of SftA was deleterious for the cells during conditions of defective chromosome segregation, or after induction of DNA damage. Lack of both proteins exacerbated all phenotypes. SftA forms soluble hexamers in solution, binds to DNA and has DNA-dependent ATPase activity, which is essential for its function in vivo. Our data suggest that SftA aids in moving DNA away from the closing septum, while SpoIIIE translocates septum-entrapped DNA only when septum closure precedes complete segregation of chromosomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Kaimer
- Mikrobiologie, Fachbereich für Biologie, Universität Freiburg, Schänzle Strasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
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29
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Biller SJ, Burkholder WF. The Bacillus subtilis SftA (YtpS) and SpoIIIE DNA translocases play distinct roles in growing cells to ensure faithful chromosome partitioning. Mol Microbiol 2009; 74:790-809. [PMID: 19788545 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06893.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In several bacterial species, the faithful completion of chromosome partitioning is known to be promoted by a conserved family of DNA translocases that includes Escherichia coli FtsK and Bacillus subtilis SpoIIIE. FtsK localizes at nascent division sites during every cell cycle and stimulates chromosome decatenation and the resolution of chromosome dimers formed by recA-dependent homologous recombination. In contrast, SpoIIIE localizes at sites where cells have divided and trapped chromosomal DNA in the membrane, which happens during spore development and under some conditions when DNA replication is perturbed. SpoIIIE completes chromosome segregation post-septationally by translocating trapped DNA across the membrane. Unlike E. coli, B. subtilis contains a second uncharacterized FtsK/SpoIIIE-like protein, SftA (formerly YtpS). We report that SftA plays a role similar to FtsK during each cell cycle but cannot substitute for SpoIIIE in rescuing trapped chromosomes. SftA colocalizes with FtsZ at nascent division sites but not with SpoIIIE at sites of chromosome trapping. SftA mutants divide over unsegregated chromosomes more frequently than wild-type unless recA is inactivated, suggesting that SftA, like FtsK, stimulates chromosome dimer resolution. Having two FtsK/SpoIIIE paralogues is not conserved among endospore-forming bacteria, but is highly conserved within several groups of soil- and plant-associated bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven J Biller
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020, USA
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30
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Sivanathan V, Emerson JE, Pages C, Cornet F, Sherratt DJ, Arciszewska LK. KOPS-guided DNA translocation by FtsK safeguards Escherichia coli chromosome segregation. Mol Microbiol 2009; 71:1031-42. [PMID: 19170870 PMCID: PMC2680272 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06586.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The septum-located DNA translocase, FtsK, acts to co-ordinate the late steps of Escherichia coli chromosome segregation with cell division. The FtsK gamma regulatory subdomain interacts with 8 bp KOPS DNA sequences, which are oriented from the replication origin to the terminus region (ter) in each arm of the chromosome. This interaction directs FtsK translocation towards ter where the final chromosome unlinking by decatenation and chromosome dimer resolution occurs. Chromosome dimer resolution requires FtsK translocation along DNA and its interaction with the XerCD recombinase bound to the recombination site, dif, located within ter. The frequency of chromosome dimer formation is approximately 15% per generation in wild-type cells. Here we characterize FtsK alleles that no longer recognize KOPS, yet are proficient for translocation and chromosome dimer resolution. Non-directed FtsK translocation leads to a small reduction in fitness in otherwise normal cell populations, as a consequence of approximately 70% of chromosome dimers being resolved to monomers. More serious consequences arise when chromosome dimer formation is increased, or their resolution efficiency is impaired because of defects in chromosome organization and processing. For example, when Cre-loxP recombination replaces XerCD-dif recombination in dimer resolution, when functional MukBEF is absent, or when replication terminates away from ter.
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31
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Lesterlin C, Pages C, Dubarry N, Dasgupta S, Cornet F. Asymmetry of chromosome Replichores renders the DNA translocase activity of FtsK essential for cell division and cell shape maintenance in Escherichia coli. PLoS Genet 2008; 4:e1000288. [PMID: 19057667 PMCID: PMC2585057 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2008] [Accepted: 10/30/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial chromosomes are organised as two replichores of opposite polarity that coincide with the replication arms from the ori to the ter region. Here, we investigated the effects of asymmetry in replichore organisation in Escherichia coli. We show that large chromosome inversions from the terminal junction of the replichores disturb the ongoing post-replicative events, resulting in inhibition of both cell division and cell elongation. This is accompanied by alterations of the segregation pattern of loci located at the inversion endpoints, particularly of the new replichore junction. None of these defects is suppressed by restoration of termination of replication opposite oriC, indicating that they are more likely due to the asymmetry of replichore polarity than to asymmetric replication. Strikingly, DNA translocation by FtsK, which processes the terminal junction of the replichores during cell division, becomes essential in inversion-carrying strains. Inactivation of the FtsK translocation activity leads to aberrant cell morphology, strongly suggesting that it controls membrane synthesis at the division septum. Our results reveal that FtsK mediates a reciprocal control between processing of the replichore polarity junction and cell division.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Lesterlin
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
- Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- * E-mail: (CL); (FC)
| | - Carine Pages
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Nelly Dubarry
- Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Santanu Dasgupta
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - François Cornet
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique Moléculaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France
- Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
- * E-mail: (CL); (FC)
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32
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Val ME, Kennedy SP, Karoui ME, Bonné L, Chevalier F, Barre FX. FtsK-dependent dimer resolution on multiple chromosomes in the pathogen Vibrio cholerae. PLoS Genet 2008; 4:e1000201. [PMID: 18818731 PMCID: PMC2533119 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2008] [Accepted: 08/18/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Unlike most bacteria, Vibrio cholerae harbors two distinct, nonhomologous circular chromosomes (chromosome I and II). Many features of chromosome II are plasmid-like, which raised questions concerning its chromosomal nature. Plasmid replication and segregation are generally not coordinated with the bacterial cell cycle, further calling into question the mechanisms ensuring the synchronous management of chromosome I and II. Maintenance of circular replicons requires the resolution of dimers created by homologous recombination events. In Escherichia coli, chromosome dimers are resolved by the addition of a crossover at a specific site, dif, by two tyrosine recombinases, XerC and XerD. The process is coordinated with cell division through the activity of a DNA translocase, FtsK. Many E. coli plasmids also use XerCD for dimer resolution. However, the process is FtsK-independent. The two chromosomes of the V. cholerae N16961 strain carry divergent dimer resolution sites, dif1 and dif2. Here, we show that V. cholerae FtsK controls the addition of a crossover at dif1 and dif2 by a common pair of Xer recombinases. In addition, we show that specific DNA motifs dictate its orientation of translocation, the distribution of these motifs on chromosome I and chromosome II supporting the idea that FtsK translocation serves to bring together the resolution sites carried by a dimer at the time of cell division. Taken together, these results suggest that the same FtsK-dependent mechanism coordinates dimer resolution with cell division for each of the two V. cholerae chromosomes. Chromosome II dimer resolution thus stands as a bona fide chromosomal process. During proliferation, DNA synthesis, chromosome segregation, and cell division must be coordinated to ensure the stable inheritance of the genetic material. In eukaryotes, this is achieved by checkpoint mechanisms that delay certain steps until others are completed. No such temporal separation exists in bacteria, which can undergo overlapping replication cycles. The eukaryotic cell cycle is particularly well suited to the management of multiple chromosomes, with the same replication initiation and segregation machineries operating on all the chromosomes, while the bacterial cell cycle is linked to genomes of less complexity, most bacteria harboring a single chromosome. The discovery of bacteria harboring multiple circular chromosomes, such as V. cholerae, raised therefore a considerable interest for the mechanisms ensuring the synchronous management of different replicons. Here, we took advantage of our knowledge of chromosome dimer resolution, the only bacterial segregation process for which coordination with cell division is well understood, to investigate one of the mechanisms ensuring the synchronous management of the smaller, plasmid-like, and larger, chromosome-like, replicons of V. cholerae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Eve Val
- CNRS, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, UPR 2167, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, Paris, France
| | - Sean P. Kennedy
- CNRS, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, UPR 2167, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, Paris, France
| | - Meriem El Karoui
- INRA, Unité des Bactéries Lactiques et Pathogènes Opportunistes, UR888, Jouy en Josas, France
| | - Laetitia Bonné
- CNRS, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, UPR 2167, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, Paris, France
| | - Fabien Chevalier
- CNRS, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, UPR 2167, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, Paris, France
| | - François-Xavier Barre
- CNRS, Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, UPR 2167, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 6, Paris, France
- * E-mail:
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33
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Le Bourgeois P, Bugarel M, Campo N, Daveran-Mingot ML, Labonté J, Lanfranchi D, Lautier T, Pagès C, Ritzenthaler P. The unconventional Xer recombination machinery of Streptococci/Lactococci. PLoS Genet 2007; 3:e117. [PMID: 17630835 PMCID: PMC1914069 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.0030117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2007] [Accepted: 06/04/2007] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Homologous recombination between circular sister chromosomes during DNA replication in bacteria can generate chromosome dimers that must be resolved into monomers prior to cell division. In Escherichia coli, dimer resolution is achieved by site-specific recombination, Xer recombination, involving two paralogous tyrosine recombinases, XerC and XerD, and a 28-bp recombination site (dif) located at the junction of the two replication arms. Xer recombination is tightly controlled by the septal protein FtsK. XerCD recombinases and FtsK are found on most sequenced eubacterial genomes, suggesting that the Xer recombination system as described in E. coli is highly conserved among prokaryotes. We show here that Streptococci and Lactococci carry an alternative Xer recombination machinery, organized in a single recombination module. This corresponds to an atypical 31-bp recombination site (dif(SL)) associated with a dedicated tyrosine recombinase (XerS). In contrast to the E. coli Xer system, only a single recombinase is required to recombine dif(SL), suggesting a different mechanism in the recombination process. Despite this important difference, XerS can only perform efficient recombination when dif(SL) sites are located on chromosome dimers. Moreover, the XerS/dif(SL) recombination requires the streptococcal protein FtsK(SL), probably without the need for direct protein-protein interaction, which we demonstrated to be located at the division septum of Lactococcus lactis. Acquisition of the XerS recombination module can be considered as a landmark of the separation of Streptococci/Lactococci from other firmicutes and support the view that Xer recombination is a conserved cellular function in bacteria, but that can be achieved by functional analogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Le Bourgeois
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Microbienne, CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
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34
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Abstract
The study of chromosome segregation in bacteria has gained strong insights from the use of cytology techniques. A global view of chromosome choreography during the cell cycle is emerging, highlighting as a next challenge the description of the molecular mechanisms and factors involved. Here, we review one of such factor, the FtsK DNA translocase. FtsK couples segregation of the chromosome terminus, the ter region, with cell division. It is a powerful and fast translocase that reads chromosome polarity to find the end, thereby sorting sister ter regions on either side of the division septum, and activating the last steps of segregation. Recent data have revealed the structure of the FtsK motor, how translocation is oriented by specific DNA motifs, termed KOPS, and suggests novel mechanisms for translocation and sensing chromosome polarity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Bigot
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique Moléculaire du CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier--Toulouse III, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex, France.
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35
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Sivanathan V, Allen MD, de Bekker C, Baker R, Arciszewska LK, Freund SM, Bycroft M, Löwe J, Sherratt DJ. The FtsK gamma domain directs oriented DNA translocation by interacting with KOPS. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2006; 13:965-72. [PMID: 17057717 PMCID: PMC2556771 DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2006] [Accepted: 09/27/2006] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The bacterial septum-located DNA translocase FtsK coordinates circular chromosome segregation with cell division. Rapid translocation of DNA by FtsK is directed by 8-base-pair DNA motifs (KOPS), so that newly replicated termini are brought together at the developing septum, thereby facilitating completion of chromosome segregation. Translocase functions reside in three domains, alpha, beta and gamma. FtsKalphabeta are necessary and sufficient for ATP hydrolysis-dependent DNA translocation, which is modulated by FtsKgamma through its interaction with KOPS. By solving the FtsKgamma structure by NMR, we show that gamma is a winged-helix domain. NMR chemical shift mapping localizes the DNA-binding site on the gamma domain. Mutated proteins with substitutions in the FtsKgamma DNA-recognition helix are impaired in DNA binding and KOPS recognition, yet remain competent in DNA translocation and XerCD-dif site-specific recombination, which facilitates the late stages of chromosome segregation.
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36
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Jensen RB. Analysis of the terminus region of the Caulobacter crescentus chromosome and identification of the dif site. J Bacteriol 2006; 188:6016-9. [PMID: 16885470 PMCID: PMC1540080 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00330-06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The terminus region of the Caulobacter crescentus chromosome and the dif chromosome dimer resolution site were characterized. The Caulobacter genome contains skewed sequences that abruptly switch strands at dif and may have roles in chromosome maintenance and segregation. Absence of dif or the XerCD recombinase results in a chromosome segregation defect. The Caulobacter terminus region is unusual, since it contains many essential or highly expressed genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rasmus B Jensen
- Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
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37
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Bannam TL, Teng WL, Bulach D, Lyras D, Rood JI. Functional identification of conjugation and replication regions of the tetracycline resistance plasmid pCW3 from Clostridium perfringens. J Bacteriol 2006; 188:4942-51. [PMID: 16788202 PMCID: PMC1483020 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00298-06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens causes fatal human infections, such as gas gangrene, as well as gastrointestinal diseases in both humans and animals. Detailed molecular analysis of the tetracycline resistance plasmid pCW3 from C. perfringens has shown that it represents the prototype of a unique family of conjugative antibiotic resistance and virulence plasmids. We have identified the pCW3 replication region by deletion and transposon mutagenesis and showed that the essential rep gene encoded a basic protein with no similarity to any known plasmid replication proteins. An 11-gene conjugation locus containing 5 genes that encoded putative proteins with similarity to proteins from the conjugative transposon Tn916 was identified, although the genes' genetic arrangements were different. Functional genetic studies demonstrated that two of the genes in this transfer clostridial plasmid (tcp) locus, tcpF and tcpH, were essential for the conjugative transfer of pCW3, and comparative analysis confirmed that the tcp locus was not confined to pCW3. The conjugation region was present on all known conjugative plasmids from C. perfringens, including an enterotoxin plasmid and other toxin plasmids. These results have significant implications for plasmid evolution, as they provide evidence that a nonreplicating Tn916-like element can evolve to become the conjugation locus of replicating plasmids that carry major virulence genes or antibiotic resistance determinants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trudi L Bannam
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial genomics and Victorian Bioinformatics Consortium, Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia.
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38
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Bloor AE, Cranenburgh RM. An efficient method of selectable marker gene excision by Xer recombination for gene replacement in bacterial chromosomes. Appl Environ Microbiol 2006; 72:2520-5. [PMID: 16597952 PMCID: PMC1449051 DOI: 10.1128/aem.72.4.2520-2525.2006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A simple, effective method of unlabeled, stable gene insertion into bacterial chromosomes has been developed. This utilizes an insertion cassette consisting of an antibiotic resistance gene flanked by dif sites and regions homologous to the chromosomal target locus. dif is the recognition sequence for the native Xer site-specific recombinases responsible for chromosome and plasmid dimer resolution: XerC/XerD in Escherichia coli and RipX/CodV in Bacillus subtilis. Following integration of the insertion cassette into the chromosomal target locus by homologous recombination, these recombinases act to resolve the two directly repeated dif sites to a single site, thus excising the antibiotic resistance gene. Previous approaches have required the inclusion of exogenous site-specific recombinases or transposases in trans; our strategy demonstrates that this is unnecessary, since an effective recombination system is already present in bacteria. The high recombination frequency makes the inclusion of a counter-selectable marker gene unnecessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra E Bloor
- Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc, The Science Park, Keele, Staffordshire ST5 5SP, United Kingdom
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39
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Yates J, Zhekov I, Baker R, Eklund B, Sherratt DJ, Arciszewska LK. Dissection of a functional interaction between the DNA translocase, FtsK, and the XerD recombinase. Mol Microbiol 2006; 59:1754-66. [PMID: 16553881 PMCID: PMC1413583 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2005.05033.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Successful bacterial circular chromosome segregation requires that any dimeric chromosomes, which arise by crossing over during homologous recombination, are converted to monomers. Resolution of dimers to monomers requires the action of the XerCD site-specific recombinase at dif in the chromosome replication terminus region. This reaction requires the DNA translocase, FtsKC, which activates dimer resolution by catalysing an ATP hydrolysis-dependent switch in the catalytic state of the nucleoprotein recombination complex. We show that a 62-amino-acid fragment of FtsKC interacts directly with the XerD C-terminus in order to stimulate the cleavage by XerD of BSN, a dif-DNA suicide substrate containing a nick in the ‘bottom’ strand. The resulting recombinase–DNA covalent complex can undergo strand exchange with intact duplex dif in the absence of ATP. FtsKC-mediated stimulation of BSN cleavage by XerD requires synaptic complex formation. Mutational impairment of the XerD–FtsKC interaction leads to reduction in the in vitro stimulation of BSN cleavage by XerD and a concomitant deficiency in the resolution of chromosomal dimers at dif in vivo, although other XerD functions are not affected.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - David J Sherratt
- *For correspondence. E-mail ; Tel. (+44) 1865 275 296; Fax (+44) 1865 275 297
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40
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Wang X, Possoz C, Sherratt DJ. Dancing around the divisome: asymmetric chromosome segregation in Escherichia coli. Genes Dev 2005; 19:2367-77. [PMID: 16204186 PMCID: PMC1240045 DOI: 10.1101/gad.345305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 131] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
By simultaneously tracking pairs of specific genetic regions and divisome proteins in live Escherichia coli, we develop a new scheme for the relationship between DNA replication-segregation, chromosome organization, and cell division. A remarkable asymmetric pattern of segregation of different loci in the replication termination region (ter) suggests that individual replichores segregate to distinct nucleoid positions, consistent with an asymmetric segregation of leading and lagging strand templates after replication. Cells growing with a generation time of 100 min are born with a nonreplicating chromosome and have their origin region close to mid-cell and their ter polar. After replication initiation, the two newly replicated origin regions move away from mid-cell to opposite cell halves. By mid-S phase, FtsZ forms a ring at mid-cell at the time of initiation of nucleoid separation; ter remains polar. In the latter half of S phase, ter moves quickly toward mid-cell. FtsK, which coordinates the late stages of chromosome segregation with cell division, forms a ring coincident with the FtsZ ring as S phase completes, approximately 50 min after its initiation. As ter duplicates at mid-cell, sister nucleoid separation appears complete. After initiation of invagination, the FtsZ ring disassembles, leaving FtsK to complete chromosome segregation and cytokinesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xindan Wang
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, United Kingdom
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41
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Lesterlin C, Barre FX, Cornet F. Genetic recombination and the cell cycle: what we have learned from chromosome dimers. Mol Microbiol 2005; 54:1151-60. [PMID: 15554958 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2004.04356.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Genetic recombination is central to DNA metabolism. It promotes sequence diversity and maintains genome integrity in all organisms. However, it can have perverse effects and profoundly influence the cell cycle. In bacteria harbouring circular chromosomes, recombination frequently has an unwanted outcome, the formation of chromosome dimers. Dimers form by homologous recombination between sister chromosomes and are eventually resolved by the action of two site-specific recombinases, XerC and XerD, at their target site, dif, located in the replication terminus of the chromosome. Studies of the Xer system and of the modalities of dimer formation and resolution have yielded important knowledge on how both homologous and site-specific recombination are controlled and integrated in the cell cycle. Here, we briefly review these advances and highlight the important questions they raise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Lesterlin
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique Moléculaire, 118, route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse Cedex, France.
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42
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Pease PJ, Levy O, Cost GJ, Gore J, Ptacin JL, Sherratt D, Bustamante C, Cozzarelli NR. Sequence-directed DNA translocation by purified FtsK. Science 2005; 307:586-90. [PMID: 15681387 DOI: 10.1126/science.1104885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
DNA translocases are molecular motors that move rapidly along DNA using adenosine triphosphate as the source of energy. We directly observed the movement of purified FtsK, an Escherichia coli translocase, on single DNA molecules. The protein moves at 5 kilobases per second and against forces up to 60 piconewtons, and locally reverses direction without dissociation. On three natural substrates, independent of its initial binding position, FtsK efficiently translocates over long distances to the terminal region of the E. coli chromosome, as it does in vivo. Our results imply that FtsK is a bidirectional motor that changes direction in response to short, asymmetric directing DNA sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Pease
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3204, USA
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43
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Abstract
The biochemical steps by which bacterial topoisomerases alter the topology of DNA are well known. However, it has been a more vexing task to establish physiological roles and sites of action of the different topoisomerases within the context of the bacterial cell cycle. This difficulty can be attributed in part to the redundancy among the activities of the different enzymes. In this microreview, we will focus on recent progress in understanding the topological structure of the chromosome, analysis of topoisomerase mechanism in single-molecule assays and recent data on the regulation and integration of topoisomerase activity within the cell cycle that have all brought a new perspective to the action of topoisomerases in the bacterial cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Espeli
- Molecular Biology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA
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44
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Bigot S, Corre J, Louarn JM, Cornet F, Barre FX. FtsK activities in Xer recombination, DNA mobilization and cell division involve overlapping and separate domains of the protein. Mol Microbiol 2004; 54:876-86. [PMID: 15522074 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2004.04335.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Escherichia coli FtsK is a multifunctional protein that couples cell division and chromosome segregation. Its N-terminal transmembrane domain (FtsK(N)) is essential for septum formation, whereas its C-terminal domain (FtsK(C)) is required for chromosome dimer resolution by XerCD-dif site-specific recombination. FtsK(C) is an ATP-dependent DNA translocase. In vitro and in vivo data point to a dual role for this domain in chromosome dimer resolution (i) to directly activate recombination by XerCD-dif and (ii) to bring recombination sites together and/or to clear DNA from the closing septum. FtsK(N) and FtsK(C) are separated by a long linker region (FtsK(L)) of unknown function that is highly divergent between bacterial species. Here, we analysed the in vivo effects of deletions of FtsK(L) and/or of FtsK(C), of swaps of these domains with their Haemophilus influenzae counterparts and of a point mutation that inactivates the walker A motif of FtsK(C). Phenotypic characterization of the mutants indicated a role for FtsK(L) in cell division. More importantly, even though Xer recombination activation and DNA mobilization both rely on the ATPase activity of FtsK(C), mutants were found that can perform only one or the other of these two functions, which allowed their separation in vivo for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Bigot
- Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique moléculaire du CNRS, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
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45
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Ip SCY, Bregu M, Barre FX, Sherratt DJ. Decatenation of DNA circles by FtsK-dependent Xer site-specific recombination. EMBO J 2004; 22:6399-407. [PMID: 14633998 PMCID: PMC291834 DOI: 10.1093/emboj/cdg589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
DNA replication results in interlinked (catenated) sister duplex molecules as a consequence of the intertwined helices that comprise duplex DNA. DNA topoisomerases play key roles in decatenation. We demonstrate a novel, efficient and directional decatenation process in vitro, which uses the combination of the Escherichia coli XerCD site-specific recombination system and a protein, FtsK, which facilitates simple synapsis of dif recombination sites during its translocation along DNA. We propose that the FtsK-XerCD recombination machinery, which converts chromosomal dimers to monomers, may also function in vivo in removing the final catenation links remaining upon completion of DNA replication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen C Y Ip
- University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
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46
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Chen Y, Rice PA. New insight into site-specific recombination from Flp recombinase-DNA structures. ANNUAL REVIEW OF BIOPHYSICS AND BIOMOLECULAR STRUCTURE 2003; 32:135-59. [PMID: 12598365 DOI: 10.1146/annurev.biophys.32.110601.141732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The lamba integrase, or tyrosine-based family of site-specific recombinases, plays an important role in a variety of biological processes by inserting, excising, and inverting DNA segments. Flp, encoded by the yeast 2-mum plasmid, is the best-characterized eukaryotic member of this family and is responsible for maintaining the copy number of this plasmid. Over the past several years, structural and biochemical studies have shed light on the details of a common catalytic scheme utilized by these enzymes with interesting variations under different biological contexts. The emergence of new Flp structures and solution data provides insights not only into its unique mechanism of active site assembly and activity regulation but also into the specific contributions of certain protein residues to catalysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Chen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
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47
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Espeli O, Lee C, Marians KJ. A physical and functional interaction between Escherichia coli FtsK and topoisomerase IV. J Biol Chem 2003; 278:44639-44. [PMID: 12939258 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m308926200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
FtsK and topoisomerase (Topo) IV are both involved in chromosome segregation in Escherichia coli. The former protein resides at the septal ring and is required for resolution of chromosome dimers. The latter protein is the chromosomal decatenase. We have demonstrated recently that Topo IV activity is concentrated at the septal proximal regions of the nucleoids late in the cell cycle. Here we demonstrate that FtsK and Topo IV physically and functionally interact. Topo IV was recovered in immunoprecipitates of FtsK. Two-hybrid analysis and immunoblotting showed that this interaction was mediated by the ParC subunit of Topo IV. In addition, we show that the C-terminal motor domain of FtsK stimulates the decatenation activity of Topo IV but not that of DNA gyrase, the other type II topoisomerase in the cell. Topo IV and FtsK appear to cooperate in the cell as well. Rescue of a parE temperature-sensitive mutation by overproduction of DnaX, which leads to stabilization of the temperature-sensitive Topo IV, required both the C-terminal domain of FtsK and dif, whereas rescue by overproduction of Topo III, which bypasses Topo IV function, did not. The interaction between FtsK and Topo IV may provide a means for concentrating the latter enzyme at the cell center.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivier Espeli
- Molecular Biology Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10021, USA
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48
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Yates J, Aroyo M, Sherratt DJ, Barre FX. Species specificity in the activation of Xer recombination at dif by FtsK. Mol Microbiol 2003; 49:241-9. [PMID: 12823825 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2003.03574.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In Escherichia coli, chromosome dimers are resolved to monomers by the addition of a single cross-over at a specific locus on the chromosome, dif. Recombination is performed by two tyrosine recombinases, XerC and XerD, and requires the action of an additional protein, FtsK. We show that Haemophilus influenzae FtsK activates recombination by H. influenzae XerCD at H. influenzae dif. However, it cannot activate recombination by E. coli XerCD. Reciprocally, E. coli FtsK cannot activate recombination by the H. influenzae recombinases at H. influenzae dif. We took advantage of this species specificity to gain further insight into the mechanism of activation of Xer recombination at dif by FtsK. We mapped the region of FtsK implicated in species specificity to the extreme 140-amino-acid C-terminal residues of the protein. Our results suggest that FtsK interacts directly with XerCD in order to activate recombination at dif.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Yates
- Division of Molecular Genetics, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK
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49
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Ferreira H, Butler-Cole B, Burgin A, Baker R, Sherratt DJ, Arciszewska LK. Functional analysis of the C-terminal domains of the site-specific recombinases XerC and XerD. J Mol Biol 2003; 330:15-27. [PMID: 12818199 DOI: 10.1016/s0022-2836(03)00558-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The tyrosine family site-specific recombinases XerC and XerD convert dimers of the Escherichia coli chromosome and many natural plasmids to monomers. The heterotetrameric recombination complex contains two molecules of XerC and two of XerD, with each recombinase mediating one pair of DNA strand exchanges. The two pairs of strand exchanges are separated in time and space. This demands that the catalytic activity of the four recombinase molecules be controlled so that only XerC or XerD is active at any given time, there being a switch in the recombinase activity state at the Holliday junction intermediate stage. Here, we analyse chimeras and deletion variants within the recombinase C-terminal domains in order to probe determinants that may be specific to either XerC or XerD, and to further understand how XerC-XerD interactions control catalysis in a recombining heterotetramer. The data confirm that the C-terminal "end" region of each recombinase plays an important role in coordinating catalysis within the XerCD heterotetramer and suggest that the interactions between the end regions of XerC and XerD and their cognate receptors within the partner recombinase are structurally and functionally different. The results support the hypothesis that the "normal" state in the heterotetrameric complex, in which XerC is catalytically active and XerD is inactive, depends on the interactions between the C-terminal end region of XerC and its receptor region within the C-terminal domain of XerD; interference with these interactions leads to a switch in the catalytic state, so that XerD is now preferentially active.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrique Ferreira
- Division of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry Department, University of Oxford, UK
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Ge H, Chuang YYE, Zhao S, Temenak JJ, Ching WM. Genomic studies of Rickettsia prowazekii virulent and avirulent strains. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2003; 990:671-7. [PMID: 12860705 DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2003.tb07442.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- H Ge
- Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-7500,USA
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