Open AccessOverinitiation of replication of the Escherichia coli chromosome from an integrated runaway-replication derivative of plasmid R1
Author(s) -
Rolf Bernander,
A. Merryweather,
Kurt Nordström
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.652
H-Index - 246
eISSN - 1067-8832
pISSN - 0021-9193
DOI - 10.1128/jb.171.2.674-683.1989
Subject(s) - biology , plasmid , dna replication , origin of replication , chromosome , control of chromosome duplication , dna , genetics , escherichia coli , cell division , microbiology and biotechnology , cell , gene
A 16-base-pair fragment, deletion of which completely inactivated oriC, was replaced by a temperature-dependent runaway-replication derivative (the copy number of which increases with temperature) of the IncFII plasmid R1. The constructed strains were temperature sensitive, and flow cytometry revealed a severalfold increase in the DNA/mass ratio following shifts to nonpermissive temperatures. The cell size distribution was broader in the constructed strains relative to that in the wild type because of asynchrony between the chromosome replication and cell division cycles. This difference was more pronounced for counterclockwise initiation of chromosomal replication, in which small DNA-less cells and long filaments were abundant. Following a temperature shift the cell size distributions became even more broad, showing that changes in the frequency of chromosomal replication affect cell division and emphasizing the interplay between these two processes.