Directionality of lambda plasmid DNA replication carried out by the heritable replication complex

A dual promoter system regulating λ DNA replication initiation

Transcription and DNA replication are tightly regulated to ensure coordination of gene expression with growth conditions and faithful transmission of genetic material to progeny. A large body of evidence has accumulated, indicating that encounters between protein machineries carrying out DNA and RNA synthesis occur in vivo and may have important regulatory consequences. This feature may be exacerbated in the case of compact genomes, like the one of bacteriophage λ, used in our study. Transcription that starts at the rightward pR promoter and proceeds through the λ origin of replication and downstream of it was proven to stimulate the initiation of λ DNA replication. Here, we demonstrate that the activity of a convergently oriented pO promoter decreases the efficiency of transcription starting from pR. Our results show, however, that a lack of the functional pO promoter negatively influences λ phage and λ-derived plasmid replication. We present data, suggesting that this effect is evoked by the enhanced level of the pR-driven transcription, occurring in the presence of the defective pO, which may result in the impeded formation of the replication initiation complex. Our data suggest that the cross talk between the two promoters regulates λ DNA replication and coordinates transcription and replication processes.

Switch from theta to sigma replication of bacteriophage lambda DNA: factors involved in the process and a model for its regulation

Bacteriophage lambda genome is one of the classical model replicons in studies on the regulation of DNA replication. Moreover, since genes coding for Shiga toxins are located in genomes of lambdoid phages, understanding of mechanisms controlling lambda DNA replication may be of bio-medical importance. During lytic development of bacteriophage lambda, its genome is replicated according to the theta (circle-to-circle) mode early after infection, and then it is switched to the sigma (rolling circle) mode. Two mechanisms of regulation of this switch were proposed recently and both suggested a crucial role for directionality of lambda DNA replication. Whereas one hypothesis assumed transient impairment of ClpP/ClpX-mediated proteolysis of the lambdaO initiator protein, another suggested a crucial role for transcriptional activation of the orilambda region and factors involved in the control of the p (R) promoter activity. Here we demonstrate that mutations in clpP and clpX genes had little influence on both directionality of lambda DNA replication and appearance of sigma replication intermediates. On the other hand, regulators affecting activity of the p (R) promoter (responsible for initiation of transcription, which activates orilambda) directly or indirectly influenced directionality of lambda DNA replication to various extents. Therefore, we conclude that regulation of the efficiency of transcriptional activation of orilambda, rather than transient impairment of the lambdaO proteolysis, is responsible for the control of the switch from theta to sigma replication, and propose a model for this control.

Bacteriophage replication modules

Bacteriophages (prokaryotic viruses) are favourite model systems to study DNA replication in prokaryotes, and provide examples for every theoretically possible replication mechanism. In addition, the elucidation of the intricate interplay of phage-encoded replication factors with 'host' factors has always advanced the understanding of DNA replication in general. Here we review bacteriophage replication based on the long-standing observation that in most known phage genomes the replication genes are arranged as modules. This allows us to discuss established model systems--f1/fd, phiX174, P2, P4, lambda, SPP1, N15, phi29, T7 and T4--along with those numerous phages that have been sequenced but not studied experimentally. The review of bacteriophage replication mechanisms and modules is accompanied by a compendium of replication origins and replication/recombination proteins (available as supplementary material online).

The mechanism of regulation of bacteriophage lambda pR promoter activity by Escherichia coli DnaA protein

Apart from its function as an initiator of DNA replication, the Escherichia coli DnaA protein is also a specific transcription factor. It activates and represses a number of promoters. However, mechanisms of transcription stimulation by DnaA remained unknown. Bacteriophage lambda pR promoter is one of the promoters activated by DnaA. It was reported previously that DnaA binds downstream of the pR promoter and perhaps interacts with the RNA polymerase beta subunit. Here we demonstrate that DnaA positively regulates transcription from pR by stimulation of two steps in transcription initiation: RNA polymerase binding to the promoter region and promoter escape. For this transcription activation, two weak DnaA boxes located downstream of pR are necessary and sufficient. Such a mechanism of transcription activation and location of the activator-binding sites relative to the transcription start point are unusual in prokaryotes. Changes in the distance between the transcription start point and the first DnaA box by 5 and 10 bp and alterations in the orientation of these boxes did not abolish the stimulation of transcription by DnaA, but the efficiency of the promoter activation was different for various mutations. It seems plausible that formation of higher order nucleoprotein structures, involving DNA looping, is necessary for effective stimulation of the pR promoter. At high concentrations, DnaA is a repressor of pR rather than an activator. This repression was found to be because of inhibition of RNA polymerase binding to the promoter region.

Differential effects of Kid toxin on two modes of replication of lambdoid plasmids suggest that this toxin acts before, but not after, the assembly of the replication complex

Kid is a small protein that is encoded by plasmid R1. It is a toxin that belongs to a killer system that ensures the stability of the plasmid in host cells. The results of previous studies have suggested that Kid is an inhibitor of DNA replication, possibly acting at the onset of initiation. Here, the authors tested the effects of Kid on orilambda-intitiated and oriJ-initiated replication, which may be driven by both the newly assembled replication complex and the heritable complex. It was found that Kid inhibits only replication that is driven by the newly assembled replication complex. The authors also report that Kid inhibits ColE1-like plasmid replication in vivo, in agreement with the previously reported inhibition of ColE1 during in vitro replication. It is proposed that the Kid toxin acts at the level of replication either by preventing de novo assembly of the replication complex or by impairing the functional interactions of the replication complex at the initiation stage.

Stress responses and replication of plasmids in bacterial cells

Plasmids, DNA (or rarely RNA) molecules which replicate in cells autonomously (independently of chromosomes) as non-essential genetic elements, play important roles for microbes grown under specific environmental conditions as well as in scientific laboratories and in biotechnology. For example, bacterial plasmids are excellent models in studies on regulation of DNA replication, and their derivatives are the most commonly used vectors in genetic engineering. Detailed mechanisms of replication initiation, which is the crucial process for efficient maintenance of plasmids in cells, have been elucidated for several plasmids. However, to understand plasmid biology, it is necessary to understand regulation of plasmid DNA replication in response to different environmental conditions in which host cells exist. Knowledge of such regulatory processes is also very important for those who use plasmids as expression vectors to produce large amounts of recombinant proteins. Variable conditions in large-scale fermentations must influence replication of plasmid DNA in cells, thus affecting the efficiency of recombinant gene expression significantly. Contrary to extensively investigated biochemistry of plasmid replication, molecular mechanisms of regulation of plasmid DNA replication in response to various environmental stress conditions are relatively poorly understood. There are, however, recently published studies that add significant data to our knowledge on relations between cellular stress responses and control of plasmid DNA replication. In this review we focus on plasmids derived from bacteriophage lambda that are among the best investigated replicons. Nevertheless, recent results of studies on other plasmids are also discussed shortly.

Lambdap(o), a promoter for oop RNA synthesis, has a role in replication of plasmids derived from bacteriophage lambda

Transcription initiated at the bacteriophage lambdap(o) promoter gives a short RNA, called oop RNA. Early studies led to a proposal that this transcript plays a role in the initiation of lambda DNA replication. In fact, the p(o) promoter is located in the lambda replication region and it was suggested that oop RNA may be a primer for replication proceeding leftward from orilambda. However, since in vitro experiments demonstrated that primers for lambda DNA replication are produced by the dnaG gene product (DnaG primase) and subsequent in vivo studies indicated that oop RNA is an antisense RNA for the lambda cII gene expression, the above-mentioned hypothesis has fallen into oblivion. Nevertheless, here we demonstrate that the p(o) promoter plays a role in lambda DNA replication, indeed. We found that lambda plasmids bearing a mutation that inactivates p(o) occur in Escherichia coli cells in a copy number significantly lower than wild-type lambda plasmids. Amplification of lambdap(o)(-) plasmids during the relaxed response was less efficient relative to lambdap(o)(+) plasmids suggesting less frequent initiation of replication from orilambda in the absence of transcription from p(o). This suggestion was confirmed by measurement of incorporation of [(3)H]thymidine into lambda plasmid DNA during pulse-labeling experiments. Therefore, we propose that transcription from the p(o) promoter stimulates replication initiation at orilambda as suggested a long time ago, however, contrary to that suggestion, we assume that the process of p(o)-initiated transcription per se but not the transcription product (oop RNA) might play a role at early steps of lambda DNA replication.