Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Published Online December 19, 2002
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1079914

Research Articles

Submitted on October 29, 2002
Accepted on December 4, 2002

RacA, a Bacterial Protein that Anchors Chromosomes to the Cell Poles

Sigal Ben-Yehuda 1, David Z. Rudner 1, Richard Losick 1*

1 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: losick{at}mcb.harvard.edu.

Eukaryotic chromosomes are anchored to a spindle apparatus during mitosis, but no such structure is known during chromosome segregation in bacteria. When sister chromosomes are segregated during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, the replication origin regions migrate to opposite poles of the cell. If and how origin regions are fastened at the poles has not been determined. Here we describe a developmental protein, RacA, that acts as a bridge between the origin region and the cell poles. We propose that RacA assembles into an adhesive patch at a centromere-like element near the origin, causing chromosomes to stick at the poles.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
From spores to antibiotics via the cell cycle.
J. Errington (2010)
Microbiology 156, 1-13
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cellular Polarity in Prokaryotic Organisms.
J. Dworkin (2009)
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 1, a003368
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Why and How Bacteria Localize Proteins.
L. Shapiro, H. H. McAdams, and R. Losick (2009)
Science 326, 1225-1228
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Structure and Assembly Dynamics of Plasmid Actin AlfA Imply a Novel Mechanism of DNA Segregation.
J. K. Polka, J. M. Kollman, D. A. Agard, and R. D. Mullins (2009)
J. Bacteriol. 191, 6219-6230
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Role of the {sigma}D-Dependent Autolysins in Bacillus subtilis Population Heterogeneity.
R. Chen, S. B. Guttenplan, K. M. Blair, and D. B. Kearns (2009)
J. Bacteriol. 191, 5775-5784
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamic Chromosome Organization and Protein Localization Coordinate the Regulatory Circuitry that Drives the Bacterial Cell Cycle.
E.D. Goley, E. Toro, H.H. McAdams, and L. Shapiro (2009)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol
   Abstract »    PDF »
Negative membrane curvature as a cue for subcellular localization of a bacterial protein.
K. S. Ramamurthi and R. Losick (2009)
PNAS 106, 13541-13545
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Positioning cytokinesis.
S. Oliferenko, T. G. Chew, and M. K. Balasubramanian (2009)
Genes & Dev. 23, 660-674
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cytological Characterization of YpsB, a Novel Component of the Bacillus subtilis Divisome.
J. R. Tavares, R. F. de Souza, G. L. S. Meira, and F. J. Gueiros-Filho (2008)
J. Bacteriol. 190, 7096-7107
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Caulobacter requires a dedicated mechanism to initiate chromosome segregation.
E. Toro, S.-H. Hong, H. H. McAdams, and L. Shapiro (2008)
PNAS 105, 15435-15440
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
SpoIIIE strips proteins off the DNA during chromosome translocation.
K. A. Marquis, B. M. Burton, M. Nollmann, J. L. Ptacin, C. Bustamante, S. Ben-Yehuda, and D. Z. Rudner (2008)
Genes & Dev. 22, 1786-1795
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Streptococcus pneumoniae DivIVA: Localization and Interactions in a MinCD-Free Context.
D. Fadda, A. Santona, V. D'Ulisse, P. Ghelardini, M. G. Ennas, M. B. Whalen, and O. Massidda (2007)
J. Bacteriol. 189, 1288-1298
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Making a Point: the Role of DivIVA in Streptococcal Polar Anatomy{triangledown}.
M. Vicente and M. Garcia-Ovalle (2007)
J. Bacteriol. 189, 1185-1188
   Full Text »    PDF »
Requirement for the Cell Division Protein DivIB in Polar Cell Division and Engulfment during Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.
L. S. Thompson, P. L. Beech, G. Real, A. O. Henriques, and E. J. Harry (2006)
J. Bacteriol. 188, 7677-7685
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Bacillus subtilis DivIVA Protein Has a Sporulation-Specific Proximity to Spo0J..
S. E. Perry and D. H. Edwards (2006)
J. Bacteriol. 188, 6039-6043
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Spo0A-Dependent Activation of an Extended -10 Region Promoter in Bacillus subtilis.
G. Chen, A. Kumar, T. H. Wyman, and C. P. Moran Jr. (2006)
J. Bacteriol. 188, 1411-1418
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Actin homolog MreB and RNA polymerase interact and are both required for chromosome segregation in Escherichia coli.
T. Kruse, B. Blagoev, A. Lobner-Olesen, M. Wachi, K. Sasaki, N. Iwai, M. Mann, and K. Gerdes (2006)
Genes & Dev. 20, 113-124
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dancing around the divisome: asymmetric chromosome segregation in Escherichia coli.
X. Wang, C. Possoz, and D. J. Sherratt (2005)
Genes & Dev. 19, 2367-2377
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evidence that entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is governed by a gradual increase in the level and activity of the master regulator Spo0A.
M. Fujita and R. Losick (2005)
Genes & Dev. 19, 2236-2244
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Presence of Multiple Sites Containing Polar Material in Spherical Escherichia coli Cells That Lack MreB.
T. Nilsen, A. W. Yan, G. Gale, and M. B. Goldberg (2005)
J. Bacteriol. 187, 6187-6196
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Diversity and redundancy in bacterial chromosome segregation mechanisms.
J. Errington, H. Murray, and L. J. Wu (2005)
Phil Trans R Soc B 360, 497-505
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Towards understanding the molecular basis of bacterial DNA segregation.
T. A Leonard, J. Moller-Jensen, and J. Lowe (2005)
Phil Trans R Soc B 360, 523-535
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Helical Disposition of Proteins and Lipopolysaccharide in the Outer Membrane of Escherichia coli.
A. S. Ghosh and K. D. Young (2005)
J. Bacteriol. 187, 1913-1922
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
High- and Low-Threshold Genes in the Spo0A Regulon of Bacillus subtilis.
M. Fujita, J. E. Gonzalez-Pastor, and R. Losick (2005)
J. Bacteriol. 187, 1357-1368
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Subcellular distribution of enzyme I of the Escherichia coli phosphoenolpyruvate:glycose phosphotransferase system depends on growth conditions.
H. V. Patel, K. A. Vyas, X. Li, R. Savtchenko, and S. Roseman (2004)
PNAS 101, 17486-17491
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The topoisomerase IV ParC subunit colocalizes with the Caulobacter replisome and is required for polar localization of replication origins.
S. C. Wang and L. Shapiro (2004)
PNAS 101, 9251-9256
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From The Cover: Rapid and sequential movement of individual chromosomal loci to specific subcellular locations during bacterial DNA replication.
P. H. Viollier, M. Thanbichler, P. T. McGrath, L. West, M. Meewan, H. H. McAdams, and L. Shapiro (2004)
PNAS 101, 9257-9262
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Compartmentalization of Gene Expression during Bacillus subtilis Spore Formation.
D. W. Hilbert and P. J. Piggot (2004)
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 68, 234-262
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Bacterial Chromosome Dynamics.
D. J. Sherratt (2003)
Science 301, 780-785
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The master regulator for entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis becomes a cell-specific transcription factor after asymmetric division.
M. Fujita and R. Losick (2003)
Genes & Dev. 17, 1166-1174
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)