Bipolar localization of Bacillus subtilis topoisomerase IV, an enzyme required for chromosome segregation.

ABSTRACT: In Bacillus subtilis, parE and parC were shown to be essential genes for the segregation of replicated chromosomes. Disruption of either one of these genes resulted in failure of the nucleoid to segregate. Purified ParE and ParC proteins reconstituted to form topoisomerase IV (topo IV), which was highly proficient for ATP-dependent superhelical DNA relaxation and decatenation of interlocked DNA networks. By immunofluorescence microscopy and by directly visualizing fluorescence by using green fluorescence protein fusions, we determined that ParC is localized at the poles of the bacteria in rapidly growing cultures. The bipolar localization of ParC required functional ParE, suggesting that topo IV activity is required for the localization. ParE was found to be distributed uniformly throughou

SUBMITTER: Huang WM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC22545 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature