biostudies-literatureUnknown39(17)Pillet FThe segregation of plasmid F of Escherichia coli is highly reliable. The Sop partition locus, responsible for this stable maintenance, is composed of two genes, sopA and sopB and a centromere, sopC, consisting of 12 direct repeats of 43 bp. Each repeat carries a 16-bp inverted repeat motif to which SopB binds to form a nucleoprotein assembly called the partition complex. A database search for sequences closely related to sopC revealed unexpected features that appeared highly conserved. We have investigated the requirements for specific SopB-sopC interactions using a surface plasmon resonance imaging technique. We show that (i) only 10 repeats interact specifically with SopB, (ii) no base outside the 16-bp sopC sites is involved in binding specificity, whereas five bases present in each armNucleic acids research7477-86https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC3177203biostudies-literatureCentromere binding specificity in assembly of the F plasmid partition complex.PMC3177203Sanchez ABouet JYPillet FLane DAnton Leberre VfalseCentromere binding specificity in assembly of the F plasmid partition complex.The segregation of plasmid F of Escherichia coli is highly reliable. The Sop partition locus, responsible for this stable maintenance, is composed of two genes, sopA and sopB and a centromere, sopC, consisting of 12 direct repeats of 43 bp. Each repeat carries a 16-bp inverted repeat motif to which SopB binds to form a nucleoprotein assembly called the partition complex. A database search for sequences closely related to sopC revealed unexpected features that appeared highly conserved. We have investigated the requirements for specific SopB-sopC interactions using a surface plasmon resonance imaging technique. We show that (i) only 10 repeats interact specifically with SopB, (ii) no base outside the 16-bp sopC sites is involved in binding specificity, whereas five bases present in each arm2011-01-01T00:00:00Z2011 Sep2025-04-05T10:23:46.678Z2019-03-27T00:44:09ZS-EPMC31772032165355310.1093/nar/gkr457