Division site-selection in Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri: characterization of minCD

• Grant number: 13/19806-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2014
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Henrique Ferreira
• Grantee: Giordanni Cabral Dantas
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Recent work from our group (FAPESP 2010/05099-7) demonstrated that the processes of chromosome segregation and cell division in Xanthomonas citri (Xac) share some resemblance with cognate functions in Caulobacter crescentus (C. crescentus) (A.P. Ucci e H. Ferreira, in preparation; attached). If the similarities were confirmed, there might be a factor in Xac, not yet identified, which operates on site division selection, and that in C. crescentus received the name of MipZ. MipZ is an inhibitor of FtsZ polymerization, and shows subcellular localization dependent on the bacterial centromere. Right after chromosome replication initiates, duplicated origins (centromeres) segregate; in C. crescentus, as well as in Xac (A.P. Ucci e H. Ferreira, in preparation), centromeres separate asymmetrically: one remains close to a cell pole while the other moves to the opposite pole. MipZ in C. crescentus is nearby the two centromeres, which guarantees that the cell center is the region with the least concentration of the FtsZ inhibitor; hence, this is the site where the divisional septum will develop. This mode of site division selection is not used for instance by Escherichia coli (Eco). Eco utilizes the Min system, where MinD localizes at the poles and recruits MinC, the FtsZ inhibitor. The localization of MinCD in Eco is dynamic and dependent on MinE that swipes from pole to pole reorganizing the MinCD complex during the cell cycle. Again, the cell center is the region in which the FtsZ inhibitor is less present, and where the septum can be assembled. Finally, C. crescentus does not possess MinCD, while Eco does not have any MipZ, however, Xac does have minCDE on its genome and could well have a mipZ homologue. We wondered: does Xac have a functional MipZ? Is the Min system of Xac operational? Which system is in fact used for site division selection in Xac?

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DANTAS, GIORDANNI C.; MARTINS, PAULA M. M.; MARTINS, DANIELA A. B.; GOMES, ELENI; FERREIRA, HENRIQUE. A protein expression system for tandem affinity purification in Xanthomonas citri subsp citri. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, v. 47, n. 2, p. 518-526, APR-JUN 2016. (13/50367-8, 13/19806-5)

GIORDANNI C. DANTAS; PAULA M.M. MARTINS; DANIELA A.B. MARTINS; ELENI GOMES; HENRIQUE FERREIRA. A protein expression system for tandem affinity purification in Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri. Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, v. 47, n. 2, p. 518-526, 2016-06-00. (13/50367-8, 13/19806-5)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

DANTAS, Giordanni Cabral. Division site selection in Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri: caracterization of minC. 2016. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. Rio Claro Rio Claro.