Coordination between replication, segregation and cell division in multi-chromosomal bacteria: lessons from Vibrio cholerae

Authors

  • Elena Espinosa
  • François-Xavier Barre
  • Elisa Galli

Keywords:

Bacteria display a highly flexible cell cycle in which cell division can be temporally disconnected from the replication/ segregation cycle of their genome. The accuracy of genetic transmission is enforced by restricting the assembly of the cell division

Abstract

Bacteria display a highly flexible cell cycle in which cell division can be temporally disconnected from the replication/
segregation cycle of their genome. The accuracy of genetic transmission is enforced by restricting the assembly of the
cell division apparatus to the low DNA-density zones that develop between the regularly spaced nucleoids originating from the
concurrent replication and segregation of genomic DNA. In most bacteria, the process is simplified because the genome is encoded
on a single chromosome. This is notably the case in Escherichia coli, the most well studied bacterial model organism. However,
~10% of bacteria have domesticated horizontally acquired mega-plasmids into extra-numerous chromosomes. Most of our current
knowledge on the cell cycle regulation of multi-chromosomal species derives from the study of replication, segregation and cell
division in Vibrio cholerae, the agent of the deadly epidemic human diarrheal disease cholera. A nicety of this model is that it is
closely related to E. coli in the phylogenetic tree of bacteria. Here, we review recent findings on the V. cholerae cell cycle in the
context of what was previously known on the E. coli cell cycle.

Author Biographies

Elena Espinosa

Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, 1 avenue de
la Terrasse, 91198 Gif sur Yvette, France

François-Xavier Barre

Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, 1 avenue de
la Terrasse, 91198 Gif sur Yvette, France

Elisa Galli

Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris Sud, 1 avenue de
la Terrasse, 91198 Gif sur Yvette, France

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Published

2018-02-27

Issue

Section

Research Reviews