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Related Concept Videos

Plasmids01:28

Plasmids

Plasmids are extrachromosomal DNA molecules found in bacteria, archaea, and some eukaryotic microbes like yeast. These small, circular DNA structures typically contain fewer than 30 genes, although some may exist linearly. Plasmids vary in their number within a cell, known as copy number. Single-copy plasmids are present in one copy per cell and multi-copy plasmids are present in multiple copies, reaching over 100 copies per cell.Plasmids usually replicate independently of the chromosomal DNA...
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The synthesis of the leading and lagging strands is a highly coordinated process. To explain this, the “Trombone model” was proposed by Bruce Alberts in 1980. The DNA loop formation starts when a primer is synthesized on the parent lagging strand. The loop grows with the...
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Cytoskeletal Proteins in Bacteria

Bacterial cells were initially considered simple, randomly organized structures lacking a cytoskeleton. However, the discovery of cytoskeleton homologs in bacteria led to the change of this opinion. Bacterial cytoskeletal filaments regulate the cell shape, cell polarity, cell division, and partitioning of plasmids during cell division. It was later discovered that bacterial cytoskeletal proteins, mainly actin and tubulin homologs, are diverse compared to their eukaryotic counterparts. On the...
Mechanism of Conjugation01:19

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Bacterial conjugation is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer that enables the exchange of genetic material between bacterial cells through direct contact. This process is facilitated by a donor cell carrying a conjugative plasmid, which encodes genes necessary for pilus formation, DNA replication, and transfer. The conjugative plasmid plays a central role in initiating and executing the transfer of genetic material.The tra region of the conjugative plasmid encodes proteins responsible for...
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Structural analysis of the ParR/parC plasmid partition complex.

Jakob Møller-Jensen1, Simon Ringgaard, Christopher P Mercogliano

  • 1MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. jakobm@bmb.sdu.dk

The EMBO Journal
|September 28, 2007
PubMed
Summary

The ParR protein from E. coli plasmid pB171 forms a helical scaffold that binds DNA, crucial for plasmid partition. This structure explains how ParM protein filaments drive DNA movement during cell division.

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Area of Science:

  • Bacterial molecular biology
  • Structural biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Accurate DNA segregation is essential for cell division in all organisms.
  • Bacterial plasmids utilize partition loci, involving proteins like ParR and ParM, for DNA partitioning.
  • The initial step in plasmid R1 partition involves the ParR-parC DNA complex, recognized by ParM.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the crystal structure of the ParR protein from E. coli plasmid pB171.
  • To elucidate the structural basis of ParR-DNA interaction in plasmid partition.
  • To understand the role of ParR structure in ParM-mediated DNA transport.

Main Methods:

  • X-ray crystallography (2.8 A resolution) to determine ParR structure.
  • Electron microscopy to analyze ParR dimer assembly.
  • Genetic and biochemical experiments to validate structural models.

Main Results:

  • The crystal structure reveals ParR as a tight dimer, belonging to the ribbon-helix-helix (RHH) DNA-binding protein family.
  • ParR dimers assemble into a helical structure with outward-facing DNA-binding sites.
  • Genetic and biochemical data support a model where parC DNA wraps around a ParR scaffold.

Conclusions:

  • The determined ParR structure provides a molecular basis for its role in plasmid partition.
  • The helical ParR scaffold facilitates centromeric DNA binding and interaction with ParM.
  • Understanding this structure offers insights into the mechanism of ParM-driven active DNA transport.