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Protein inheritance: λ plasmid replication perpetuated by the heritable replication complex
Author(s) -
We¸grzyn Alicja,
We¸grzyn Grzegorz,
Herman Anna,
Taylor Karol
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
genes to cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1365-2443
pISSN - 1356-9597
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2443.1996.830283.x
Subject(s) - biology , replication (statistics) , inheritance (genetic algorithm) , plasmid , genetics , origin of replication , computational biology , dna , gene , virology
Background : Replication of a plasmid derived from the Escherichia coli phage λ initiates by binding of the λO protein initiator to the origin of λ DNA replication, ori λ. The λP protein participates in subsequent steps of assembly of the λ replication complex. A function of λP required for replication complex assembly is inactivated at 43°C by the ts1 mutation. Results : We found that the λ replication complex assembled at 30°C survives the temperature upshift in λ cro ts P ts1 plasmid‐harbouring bacteria. We present several lines of evidence that in this system (in which the replication complex assembly does not occur), the replication complex assembled prior to the temperature upshift is inherited by one of two daughter plasmid copies at each replication round for more than 30 cell generations. The ‘old’ replication complex‐driven replication is chloramphenicol‐resistant and rifampicin‐sensitive. This replication is dependent on λO and host dnaK , dnaJ and grpE chaperone gene functions. Conclusions : The λO‐containing replication complex is inherited together with DNA and bears information how to initiate the next round of replication at ori λ; thus, we consider that this phenomenon deserves to be called protein inheritance.