Polyploidy, regular patterning of genome copies, and unusual control of DNA partitioning in the Lyme disease spirochete
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Borrelia burgdorferi, the tick-transmitted spirochete agent of Lyme disease, has a highly segmented genome with a linear chromosome and various linear or circular plasmids. Here, by imaging several chromosomal loci and 16 distinct plasmids, we show that B. burgdorferi is polyploid during growth in culture and that the number of genome copies decreases during stationary phase. B. burgdorferi is also polyploid inside fed ticks and chromosome copies are regularly spaced along the spirochete's length in both growing cultures and ticks. This patterning involves the conserved DNA partitioning protein ParA whose localization is controlled by a potentially phage-derived protein, ParZ, instead of its usual partner ParB. ParZ binds its own coding region and acts as a centromere-binding protein. While ParA works with ParZ, ParB controls the localization of the condensin, SMC. Together, the ParA/ParZ and ParB/SMC pairs ensure faithful chromosome inheritance. Our findings underscore the plasticity of cellular functions, even those as fundamental as chromosome segregation.
Source: Nature Communications
Institutions: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, National Institutes of Health, University of Saskatchewan, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Yale University, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,890
Funders: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, American Heart Association, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Center for Research Resources
Awards: G1002601351, OMX BLAZE High Speed Super Resolution Imaging System, G215729137, Physicochemical properties driving membraneless organelle assembly in bacteria, G3647207894, G4324392417, G49820885, Genome organization and segregation in the spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme carditis., How bacterial SMC complexes organize chromosomes
OpenAlex ID: W4310438605