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- Title
Molecular mechanism by which the nucleoid occlusion factor, SlmA, keeps cytokinesis in check.
- Authors
Tonthat, Nam Ky; Arold, Stefan T; Pickering, Brian F; Van Dyke, Michael W; Liang, Shoudan; Lu, Yue; Beuria, Tushar K; Margolin, William; Schumacher, Maria A
- Abstract
In Escherichia coli, cytokinesis is orchestrated by FtsZ, which forms a Z-ring to drive septation. Spatial and temporal control of Z-ring formation is achieved by the Min and nucleoid occlusion (NO) systems. Unlike the well-studied Min system, less is known about the anti-DNA guillotining NO process. Here, we describe studies addressing the molecular mechanism of SlmA (synthetic lethal with a defective Min system)-mediated NO. SlmA contains a TetR-like DNA-binding fold, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses show that SlmA-binding sites are dispersed on the chromosome except the Ter region, which segregates immediately before septation. SlmA binds DNA and FtsZ simultaneously, and the SlmA-FtsZ structure reveals that two FtsZ molecules sandwich a SlmA dimer. In this complex, FtsZ can still bind GTP and form protofilaments, but the separated protofilaments are forced into an anti-parallel arrangement. This suggests that SlmA may alter FtsZ polymer assembly. Indeed, electron microscopy data, showing that SlmA-DNA disrupts the formation of normal FtsZ polymers and induces distinct spiral structures, supports this. Thus, the combined data reveal how SlmA derails Z-ring formation at the correct place and time to effect NO.
- Publication
The EMBO journal, 2011, Vol 30, Issue 1, p154
- ISSN
1460-2075
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1038/emboj.2010.288