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Regulated polyploidy in halophilic archaea.

Sebastian Breuert1, Thorsten Allers, Gabi Spohn

  • 1Goethe University, Institute for Molecular Biosciences, Frankfurt, Germany.

Plos One
|December 22, 2006
PubMed
Summary
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Polyploidy, or multiple genome copies, is common in archaea like Halobacterium salinarum and Halobacterium volcanii. Genome copy number decreases as cells transition from exponential to stationary growth phases.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Genetics
  • Archaea Biology

Background:

  • Higher eukaryotes commonly exhibit polyploidy, while prokaryotes are typically assumed to be monoploid with a single chromosome copy.
  • The genome copy number in prokaryotes, particularly archaea, is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the genome copy number in halophilic archaea using two independent methods.
  • To investigate the regulation of genome copy number in relation to growth phase and growth rate.
  • To explore the variation in genome copy numbers within a cell population.

Main Methods:

  • Cell lysis in agarose blocks followed by Southern blot analysis.
  • Real-Time quantitative PCR (qPCR).
  • Fluorescence microscopy and Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis.

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Main Results:

  • Fast-growing Halobacterium salinarum cells possess approximately 25 chromosome copies in exponential phase, decreasing to 15 in stationary phase.
  • Halobacterium volcanii shows similar high ploidy in exponential phase (18 copies) and downregulation in stationary phase (10 copies).
  • Significant variation in genome copy number exists among individual cells, especially in exponential phase.

Conclusions:

  • Polyploidy may be more prevalent in archaea and prokaryotes than previously assumed.
  • The observed growth phase-dependent regulation of genome copy number in archaea suggests a complex strategy.
  • The high number of genome copies in prokaryotes raises questions about their evolutionary significance.