Project description:Chromosome duplication normally initiates via the assembly of replication fork complexes at defined origins. DNA synthesis by any one fork is thought to cease when it meets another travelling in the opposite direction, at which stage the replication machinery may simply dissociate before the nascent strands are finally ligated. But what actually happens is not clear. Here we present evidence consistent with the idea that every fork collision has the potential to trigger re-replication of the already replicated DNA, thus posing a threat to genomic integrity. In Escherichia coli this threat is kept at bay by the RecG DNA translocase. Without RecG, replication initiates where forks meet, establishing new forks with the potential to sustain cell growth and division in the absence of an active origin. The studies reported raise the question of how eukaryotic and archaeal cells are able to exploit multiple origins for the duplication of each chromosome without any apparent ill effect from the consequent multiple fork collisions. Measurement of replication dynamics (marker frequency analysis; MFA) for E. coli strains, including wild-type and various mutants.
Project description:DNA replication initiates at defined sites called origins, which serve as binding sites for initiator proteins that recruit the replicative machinery. Origins differ in number and structure across the three domains of life1 and their properties determine the dynamics of chromosome replication. Bacteria and some archaea replicate from single origins, whilst most archaea and all eukaryotes replicate using multiple origins. Initiation mechanisms that rely on homologous recombination operate in some viruses. Here we show that such mechanisms also operate in archaea. We have used deep sequencing to study replication in Haloferax volcanii. Four chromosomal origins of differing activity were identified. Deletion of individual origins resulted in perturbed replication dynamics and reduced growth. However, a strain lacking all origins has no apparent defects and grows significantly faster than wild-type. Origin-less cells initiate replication at dispersed sites rather than at discrete origins and have an absolute requirement for the recombinase RadA, unlike strains lacking individual origins. Our results demonstrate that homologous recombination alone can efficiently initiate the replication of an entire cellular genome. This raises the question of what purpose replication origins serve and why they have evolved. Measurement of replication dynamics (marker frequency analysis; MFA) for Haloferax volcanii strains, including wild-type, the laboratory strain, individual and combinations of replication origin deletions.
Project description:DNA replication prior to cell division is essential for the proliferation of all cells. Bacterial chromosomes are replicated bidirectionally from a single origin of replication, with replication proceeding at about 1000 bp per second. For the best-studied model organism, Escherichia coli, this translates into a replication time of about 40 min for its 4.6 Mb chromosome. Nevertheless, E. coli can propagate by overlapping replication cycles with a maximum short doubling time of 20 min. The fastest growing bacterium known today, Vibrio natriegens, is able to replicate with a generation time of less than 10 min. It has a bipartite genome with chromosome sizes of 3.2 and 1.9 Mb. Is simultaneous replication from two origins a prerequisite for its rapid growth? We fused the two chromosomes of V. natriegens to create a strain carrying a 5.2 Mb chromosome with a single origin of replication. Compared to the wild-type, this strain showed little deviation in growth rate. This suggests that the split genome is not a prerequisite for rapid growth, and that DNA replication is not an important growth rate-limiting factor.
Project description:DNA replication initiates at defined sites called origins, which serve as binding sites for initiator proteins that recruit the replicative machinery. Origins differ in number and structure across the three domains of life1 and their properties determine the dynamics of chromosome replication. Bacteria and some archaea replicate from single origins, whilst most archaea and all eukaryotes replicate using multiple origins. Initiation mechanisms that rely on homologous recombination operate in some viruses. Here we show that such mechanisms also operate in archaea. We have used deep sequencing to study replication in Haloferax volcanii. Four chromosomal origins of differing activity were identified. Deletion of individual origins resulted in perturbed replication dynamics and reduced growth. However, a strain lacking all origins has no apparent defects and grows significantly faster than wild-type. Origin-less cells initiate replication at dispersed sites rather than at discrete origins and have an absolute requirement for the recombinase RadA, unlike strains lacking individual origins. Our results demonstrate that homologous recombination alone can efficiently initiate the replication of an entire cellular genome. This raises the question of what purpose replication origins serve and why they have evolved.
Project description:Chromosome duplication normally initiates via the assembly of replication fork complexes at defined origins. DNA synthesis by any one fork is thought to cease when it meets another travelling in the opposite direction, at which stage the replication machinery may simply dissociate before the nascent strands are finally ligated. But what actually happens is not clear. Here we present evidence consistent with the idea that every fork collision has the potential to trigger re-replication of the already replicated DNA, thus posing a threat to genomic integrity. In Escherichia coli this threat is kept at bay by the RecG DNA translocase. Without RecG, replication initiates where forks meet, establishing new forks with the potential to sustain cell growth and division in the absence of an active origin. The studies reported raise the question of how eukaryotic and archaeal cells are able to exploit multiple origins for the duplication of each chromosome without any apparent ill effect from the consequent multiple fork collisions.
Project description:The dpiA and dpiB genes of Escherichia coli, which are orthologs of genes that regulate citrate uptake and utilization in Klebsiella pneumoniae, comprise a two-component signal transduction system that can modulate the replication of and destabilize the inheritance of pSC101 and certain other plasmids. Here we show that perturbed replication and inheritance result from binding of the effector protein DpiA to A+T-rich replication origin sequences that resemble those in the K. pneumoniae promoter region targeted by the DpiA ortholog, CitB. Consistent with its ability to bind to A+T-rich origin sequences, overproduction of DpiA induced the SOS response in E. coli, suggesting that chromosomal DNA replication is affected. Bacteria that overexpressed DpiA showed an increased amount of DNA per cell and increased cell size-both also characteristic of the SOS response. Concurrent overexpression of the DNA replication initiation protein, DnaA, or the DNA helicase, DnaB-both of which act at A+T-rich replication origin sequences in the E. coli chromosome and DpiA-targeted plasmids-reversed SOS induction as well as plasmid destabilization by DpiA. Our finding that physical and functional interactions between DpiA and sites of replication initiation modulate DNA replication and plasmid inheritance suggests a mechanism by which environmental stimuli transmitted by these gene products can regulate chromosomal and plasmid dynamics.
Project description:Mapping origins of replication has been challenging in higher eukaryotes. We have developed a rapid, genome-wide method to map origins in asynchronous human cells by combining the nascent strand abundance assay with a highly-tiled microarray platform, and we validated the technique by two independent assays. We applied this method to analyze the enrichment of nascent DNA in three 50 kb regions containing known origins of replication in the MYC, LMNB2, and HBB genes, a 200 kb region containing the rare fragile site, FRAXA, and a 1075 kb region on chromosome 22, and detected most of the known origins, as well as 28 new origins. Surprisingly, the 28 new origins were small in size, and predominantly located within genes. Our study also revealed a strong correlation between origin replication timing and chromatin acetylation. Keywords: origin mapping, nascent strand DNA, histone acetylaction mapping, ChIP-chip
Project description:Understand the mechanisms of evolution in large-scale bio-production by tracking population dynamics leading to production decline in mevalonic acid-producing Escherichia coli. Industrial bioproduction entails growth of the production host to large bioreactors (e.g. 1-300 m3). This may put the organism at risk for generating non-producing subpopulations of genetic heterogeneity, which is not phenotypically detected at lab-scale (e.g. 2 L). To study these dynamics, we experimentally simulated these growth durations by passing mevalonic acid-producing E. coli to maintain the populations in exponential growth for 45 generations.
Project description:In S. cerevisiae, replication timing is controlled by epigenetic mechanisms restricting the accessibility of origins to limiting initiation factors. About 30% of these origins are located within repetitive DNA sequences such as the ribosomal DNA (rDNA) array, but their regulation is poorly understood. Here, we have investigated how histone deacetylases (HDACs) control the replication program in budding yeast. This analysis revealed that two HDACs, Rpd3 and Sir2, control replication timing in an opposite manner. Whereas Rpd3 delays initiation at late origins, Sir2 is required for the timely activation of early origins. Moreover, Sir2 represses initiation at rDNA origins whereas Rpd3 counteracts this effect. Remarkably, deletion of SIR2 restored normal replication in rpd3 cells by reactivating rDNA origins. Together, these data indicate that HDACs control the replication timing program in budding yeast by modulating the ability of repeated origins to compete with single-copy origins for limiting initiation factors. MNase-seq analysis of nucleosome position in wt, sir2 and rpd3 cells, aligned against genomic DNA (sacCer3; *sorted_s3.bed) and rDNA sequences (*rdna_nucleosomes.bed)