scholarly journals Phenotypes of dnaXE145A Mutant Cells Indicate that the Escherichia coli Clamp Loader Has a Role in the Restart of Stalled Replication Forks

2017 ◽  
Vol 199 (24) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingvild Flåtten ◽  
Emily Helgesen ◽  
Ida Benedikte Pedersen ◽  
Torsten Waldminghaus ◽  
Christiane Rothe ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Escherichia coli dnaXE145A mutation was discovered in connection with a screen for multicopy suppressors of the temperature-sensitive topoisomerase IV mutation parE10. The gene for the clamp loader subunits τ and γ, dnaX, but not the mutant dnaXE145A , was found to suppress parE10(Ts) when overexpressed. Purified mutant protein was found to be functional in vitro, and few phenotypes were found in vivo apart from problems with partitioning of DNA in rich medium. We show here that a large number of the replication forks that initiate at oriC never reach the terminus in dnaXE145A mutant cells. The SOS response was found to be induced, and a combination of the dnaXE145A mutation with recBC and recA mutations led to reduced viability. The mutant cells exhibited extensive chromosome fragmentation and degradation upon inactivation of recBC and recA, respectively. The results indicate that the dnaXE145A mutant cells suffer from broken replication forks and that these need to be repaired by homologous recombination. We suggest that the dnaX-encoded τ and γ subunits of the clamp loader, or the clamp loader complex itself, has a role in the restart of stalled replication forks without extensive homologous recombination. IMPORTANCE The E. coli clamp loader complex has a role in coordinating the activity of the replisome at the replication fork and loading β-clamps for lagging-strand synthesis. Replication forks frequently encounter obstacles, such as template lesions, secondary structures, and tightly bound protein complexes, which will lead to fork stalling. Some pathways of fork restart have been characterized, but much is still unknown about the actors and mechanisms involved. We have in this work characterized the dnaXE145A clamp loader mutant. We find that the naturally occurring obstacles encountered by a replication fork are not tackled in a proper way by the mutant clamp loader and suggest a role for the clamp loader in the restart of stalled replication forks.

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (2) ◽  
pp. 630-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline V. Grigorian ◽  
Rachel B. Lustig ◽  
Elena C. Guzmán ◽  
Joseph M. Mahaffy ◽  
Judith W. Zyskind

ABSTRACT The dnaA operon of Escherichia coli contains the genes dnaA, dnaN, and recF encoding DnaA, β clamp of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, and RecF. When the DnaA concentration is raised, an increase in the number of DNA replication initiation events but a reduction in replication fork velocity occurs. Because DnaA is autoregulated, these results might be due to the inhibition of dnaN and recF expression. To test this, we examined the effects of increasing the intracellular concentrations of DnaA, β clamp, and RecF, together and separately, on initiation, the rate of fork movement, and cell viability. The increased expression of one or more of the dnaA operon proteins had detrimental effects on the cell, except in the case of RecF expression. A shorter C period was not observed with increased expression of the β clamp; in fact, many chromosomes did not complete replication in runout experiments. Increased expression of DnaA alone resulted in stalled replication forks, filamentation, and a decrease in viability. When the three proteins of the dnaA operon were simultaneously overexpressed, highly filamentous cells were observed (>50 μm) with extremely low viability and, in runout experiments, most chromosomes had not completed replication. The possibility that recombinational repair was responsible for the survival of cells overexpressing DnaA was tested by using mutants in different recombinational repair pathways. The absence of RecA, RecB, RecC, or the proteins in the RuvABC complex caused an additional ∼100-fold drop in viability in cells with increased levels of DnaA, indicating a requirement for recombinational repair in these cells.


2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (15) ◽  
pp. 5782-5786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Estrella Guarino ◽  
Israel Salguero ◽  
Alfonso Jiménez-Sánchez ◽  
Elena C. Guzmán

ABSTRACT Stalled replication forks produced by three different ways of depleting deoxynucleoside triphosphate showed different capacities to undergo “replication fork reversal.” This reaction occurred at the stalled forks generated by hydroxyurea treatment, was impaired under thermal inactivation of ribonucleoside reductase, and did not take place under thymine starvation.


2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (22) ◽  
pp. 8396-8409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Herzberg ◽  
Vladimir I. Bashkirov ◽  
Michael Rolfsmeier ◽  
Edwin Haghnazari ◽  
W. Hayes McDonald ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT DNA damage checkpoints coordinate the cellular response to genotoxic stress and arrest the cell cycle in response to DNA damage and replication fork stalling. Homologous recombination is a ubiquitous pathway for the repair of DNA double-stranded breaks and other checkpoint-inducing lesions. Moreover, homologous recombination is involved in postreplicative tolerance of DNA damage and the recovery of DNA replication after replication fork stalling. Here, we show that the phosphorylation on serines 2, 8, and 14 (S2,8,14) of the Rad55 protein is specifically required for survival as well as for normal growth under genome-wide genotoxic stress. Rad55 is a Rad51 paralog in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and functions in the assembly of the Rad51 filament, a central intermediate in recombinational DNA repair. Phosphorylation-defective rad55-S2,8,14A mutants display a very slow traversal of S phase under DNA-damaging conditions, which is likely due to the slower recovery of stalled replication forks or the slower repair of replication-associated DNA damage. These results suggest that Rad55-S2,8,14 phosphorylation activates recombinational repair, allowing for faster recovery after genotoxic stress.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph Scully ◽  
Rajula Elango ◽  
Arvind Panday ◽  
Francis Lach ◽  
Nicholas Willis ◽  
...  

Abstract Vertebrate replication forks arrested at an interstrand DNA crosslink (ICL) can engage the Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway of ICL repair. The FANCP product, SLX4, binds the FANCQ/XPF/ERCC4-ERCC1 endonuclease, which incises bidirectionally arrested forks to ‘unhook’ the ICL. The resulting double strand break (DSB) is repaired by homologous recombination (HR). Whether this mechanism operates at replication blocks other than ICLs is unknown. Here, we study the role of mammalian SLX4 in HR triggered by a site-specific, chromosomal DNA-protein replication fork barrier formed by the Escherichia coli-derived Tus/Ter complex. We identify an SLX4-XPF-mediated step that is required for Tus/Ter-induced HR but not for HR induced by a replication-independent DSB. We additionally identify a requirement for SLX4-XPF in DSB-induced ‘long tract’ gene conversion, a replicative HR pathway related to break-induced replication. Our work suggests that Tus/Ter-induced HR recapitulates the incision step of replication-coupled ICL repair, and that the full FA mechanism can process DNA-protein barriers for HR.


Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Marians

Replication of the genome is crucial for the accurate transmission of genetic information. It has become clear over the last decade that the orderly progression of replication forks in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes is disrupted with high frequency by encounters with various obstacles either on or in the template strands. Survival of the organism then becomes dependent on both removal of the obstruction and resumption of replication. This latter point is particularly important in bacteria, where the number of replication forks per genome is nominally only two. Replication restart in Escherichia coli is accomplished by the action of the restart primosomal proteins, which use both recombination intermediates and stalled replication forks as substrates for loading new replication forks. These reactions have been reconstituted with purified recombination and replication proteins.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Daza-Martin ◽  
Mohammed Jamshad ◽  
Katarzyna Starowicz ◽  
Anoop Singh Chauhan ◽  
James F.J. Beesley ◽  
...  

AbstractBRCA1, BRCA2 and a subset of Fanconi’s Anaemia proteins act to promote RAD51-mediated protection of newly synthesised DNA at stalled replication forks from degradation by nucleases. How BRCA1 contributes, how it is regulated and whether replication fork protection relates to, or differs from, the roles BRCA1 has in homologous recombination is not clear. Here we show that the canonical BRCA1-PALB2 interaction is not required for fork protection and instead we demonstrate that the ability of BRCA1 to protect nascent DNA is regulated in an unexpected fashion through conformational change mediated by the phosphorylation-directed prolyl isomerase, PIN1. BRCA1 isomerisation enhances BRCA1-BARD1 interaction with RAD51 and consequently RAD51 presence at stalled replication structures. Our data suggest BRCA1-BARD1 promotes fork protection in part by enhancing the RAD51 synapse. Patient missense variants in the regulated BRCA1-BARD1 regions similarly show poor nascent strand protection but proficient homologous recombination, defining novel domains required for fork protection in BRCA1-BARD1 associated with cancer predisposition. Together these findings reveal a previously unrecognised pathway that governs BRCA1-mediated replication fork protection.


2016 ◽  
Vol 198 (8) ◽  
pp. 1305-1316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Helgesen ◽  
Solveig Fossum-Raunehaug ◽  
Kirsten Skarstad

ABSTRACTThe architectural protein H-NS binds nonspecifically to hundreds of sites throughout the chromosome and can multimerize to stiffen segments of DNA as well as to form DNA-protein-DNA bridges. H-NS has been suggested to contribute to the orderly folding of theEscherichia colichromosome in the highly compacted nucleoid. In this study, we investigated the positioning and dynamics of the origins, the replisomes, and the SeqA structures trailing the replication forks in cells lacking the H-NS protein. In H-NS mutant cells, foci of SeqA, replisomes, and origins were irregularly positioned in the cell. Further analysis showed that the average distance between the SeqA structures and the replisome was increased by ∼100 nm compared to that in wild-type cells, whereas the colocalization of SeqA-bound sister DNA behind replication forks was not affected. This result may suggest that H-NS contributes to the folding of DNA along adjacent segments. H-NS mutant cells were found to be incapable of adopting the distinct and condensed nucleoid structures characteristic ofE. colicells growing rapidly in rich medium. It appears as if H-NS mutant cells adopt a “slow-growth” type of chromosome organization under nutrient-rich conditions, which leads to a decreased cellular DNA content.IMPORTANCEIt is not fully understood how and to what extent nucleoid-associated proteins contribute to chromosome folding and organization during replication and segregation inEscherichia coli. In this work, we findin vivoindications that cells lacking the nucleoid-associated protein H-NS have a lower degree of DNA condensation than wild-type cells. Our work suggests that H-NS is involved in condensing the DNA along adjacent segments on the chromosome and is not likely to tether newly replicated strands of sister DNA. We also find indications that H-NS is required for rapid growth with high DNA content and for the formation of a highly condensed nucleoid structure under such conditions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 197 (17) ◽  
pp. 2792-2809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarita Mallik ◽  
Ellen M. Popodi ◽  
Andrew J. Hanson ◽  
Patricia L. Foster

ABSTRACTEscherichia coli's DNA polymerase IV (Pol IV/DinB), a member of the Y family of error-prone polymerases, is induced during the SOS response to DNA damage and is responsible for translesion bypass and adaptive (stress-induced) mutation. In this study, the localization of Pol IV after DNA damage was followed using fluorescent fusions. After exposure ofE. colito DNA-damaging agents, fluorescently tagged Pol IV localized to the nucleoid as foci. Stepwise photobleaching indicated ∼60% of the foci consisted of three Pol IV molecules, while ∼40% consisted of six Pol IV molecules. Fluorescently tagged Rep, a replication accessory DNA helicase, was recruited to the Pol IV foci after DNA damage, suggesting that thein vitrointeraction between Rep and Pol IV reported previously also occursin vivo. Fluorescently tagged RecA also formed foci after DNA damage, and Pol IV localized to them. To investigate if Pol IV localizes to double-strand breaks (DSBs), an I-SceI endonuclease-mediated DSB was introduced close to a fluorescently labeled LacO array on the chromosome. After DSB induction, Pol IV localized to the DSB site in ∼70% of SOS-induced cells. RecA also formed foci at the DSB sites, and Pol IV localized to the RecA foci. These results suggest that Pol IV interacts with RecAin vivoand is recruited to sites of DSBs to aid in the restoration of DNA replication.IMPORTANCEDNA polymerase IV (Pol IV/DinB) is an error-prone DNA polymerase capable of bypassing DNA lesions and aiding in the restart of stalled replication forks. In this work, we demonstratein vivolocalization of fluorescently tagged Pol IV to the nucleoid after DNA damage and to DNA double-strand breaks. We show colocalization of Pol IV with two proteins: Rep DNA helicase, which participates in replication, and RecA, which catalyzes recombinational repair of stalled replication forks. Time course experiments suggest that Pol IV recruits Rep and that RecA recruits Pol IV. These findings providein vivoevidence that Pol IV aids in maintaining genomic stability not only by bypassing DNA lesions but also by participating in the restoration of stalled replication forks.


Author(s):  
Casey Toft ◽  
Morgane Moreau ◽  
Jiri Perutka ◽  
Savitri Mandapati ◽  
Peter Enyeart ◽  
...  

In Escherichia coli, DNA replication termination is orchestrated by two clusters of Ter sites forming a DNA replication fork trap when bound by Tus proteins. The formation of a ‘locked’ Tus-Ter complex is essential for halting incoming DNA replication forks. However, the absence of replication fork arrest at some Ter sites raised questions about their significance. In this study, we examined the genome-wide distribution of Tus and found that only the six innermost Ter sites (TerA-E and G) were significantly bound by Tus. We also found that a single ectopic insertion of TerB in its non-permissive orientation could not be achieved, advocating against a need for ‘back-up’ Ter sites. Finally, examination of the genomes of a variety of Enterobacterales revealed a new replication fork trap architecture mostly found outside the Enterobacteriaceae family. Taken together, our data enabled the delineation of a narrow ancestral Tus-dependent DNA replication fork trap consisting of only two Ter sites.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (17) ◽  
pp. 4742-4756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Lorenz ◽  
Fekret Osman ◽  
Victoria Folkyte ◽  
Sevil Sofueva ◽  
Matthew C. Whitby

ABSTRACT Controlling the loading of Rad51 onto DNA is important for governing when and how homologous recombination is used. Here we use a combination of genetic assays and indirect immunofluorescence to show that the F-box DNA helicase (Fbh1) functions in direct opposition to the Rad52 orthologue Rad22 to curb Rad51 loading onto DNA in fission yeast. Surprisingly, this activity is unnecessary for limiting spontaneous direct-repeat recombination. Instead it appears to play an important role in preventing recombination when replication forks are blocked and/or broken. When overexpressed, Fbh1 specifically reduces replication fork block-induced recombination, as well as the number of Rad51 nuclear foci that are induced by replicative stress. These abilities are dependent on its DNA helicase/translocase activity, suggesting that Fbh1 exerts its control on recombination by acting as a Rad51 disruptase. In accord with this, overexpression of Fbh1 also suppresses the high levels of recombinant formation and Rad51 accumulation at a site-specific replication fork barrier in a strain lacking the Rad51 disruptase Srs2. Similarly overexpression of Srs2 suppresses replication fork block-induced gene conversion events in an fbh1Δ mutant, although an inability to suppress deletion events suggests that Fbh1 has a distinct functionality, which is not readily substituted by Srs2.


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