Identification of the SlmA active site responsible for blocking bacterial cytokinetic ring assembly over the chromosome.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial cells use chromosome-associated division inhibitors to help coordinate the processes of DNA replication and segregation with cytokinesis. SlmA from Escherichia coli, a member of the tetracycline repressor (TetR)-like protein family, is one example of this class of regulator. It blocks the assembly of the bacterial cytokinetic ring by interfering with the polymerization of the tubulin-like FtsZ protein in a manner that is dramatically stimulated upon specific DNA binding. Here we used a combination of molecular genetics and biochemistry to identify the active site of SlmA responsible for disrupting FtsZ polymerization. Interestingly, this site maps to a region of SlmA that in the published DNA-free structure is partially occluded by the DNA-binding domains. In this conformation, t

SUBMITTER: Cho H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3573117 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature