Changes in nucleoid morphology and origin localization upon inhibition or alteration of the actin homolog, MreB, of Vibrio cholerae.

ABSTRACT: MreB is an actin homolog required for the morphogenesis of most rod-shaped bacteria and for other functions, including chromosome segregation. In Caulobacter crescentus and Escherichia coli, the protein seems to play a role in the segregation of sister origins, but its role in Bacillus subtilis chromosome segregation is less clear. To help clarify its role in segregation, we have here studied the protein in Vibrio cholerae, whose chromosome I segregates like the one in C. crescentus and whose chromosome II like the one in E. coli or B. subtilis. The properties of Vibrio MreB were similar to those of its homologs in other bacteria in that it formed dynamic helical filaments, was essential for viability, and was inhibited by the drug A22. Wild-type (WT) cells exposed to A22 became spherical

SUBMITTER: Srivastava P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2168437 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature