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AfsK-Mediated Site-Specific Phosphorylation Regulates DnaA Initiator Protein Activity in Streptomyces coelicolor

Łebkowski, Tomasz ; Wolański, Marcin ; Ołdziej, Stanisław ; Flärdh, Klas LU and Zakrzewska-Czerwińska, Jolanta (2020) In Journal of Bacteriology 202(3).
Abstract

In all organisms, chromosome replication is regulated mainly at the initiation step. Most of the knowledge about the mechanisms that regulate replication initiation in bacteria has come from studies on rod-shaped bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilisStreptomyces is a bacterial genus that is characterized by distinctive features and a complex life cycle that shares some properties with the developmental cycle of filamentous fungi. The unusual lifestyle of streptomycetes suggests that these bacteria use various mechanisms to control key cellular processes. Here, we provide the first insights into the phosphorylation of the bacterial replication initiator protein, DnaA, from Streptomyces coelicolor We suggest that... (More)

In all organisms, chromosome replication is regulated mainly at the initiation step. Most of the knowledge about the mechanisms that regulate replication initiation in bacteria has come from studies on rod-shaped bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilisStreptomyces is a bacterial genus that is characterized by distinctive features and a complex life cycle that shares some properties with the developmental cycle of filamentous fungi. The unusual lifestyle of streptomycetes suggests that these bacteria use various mechanisms to control key cellular processes. Here, we provide the first insights into the phosphorylation of the bacterial replication initiator protein, DnaA, from Streptomyces coelicolor We suggest that phosphorylation of DnaA triggers a conformational change that increases its ATPase activity and decreases its affinity for the replication origin, thereby blocking the formation of a functional orisome. We suggest that the phosphorylation of DnaA is catalyzed by Ser/Thr kinase AfsK, which was shown to regulate the polar growth of S. coelicolor Together, our results reveal that phosphorylation of the DnaA initiator protein functions as a negative regulatory mechanism to control the initiation of chromosome replication in a manner that presumably depends on the cellular localization of the protein.IMPORTANCE This work provides insights into the phosphorylation of the DnaA initiator protein in Streptomyces coelicolor and suggests a novel bacterial regulatory mechanism for initiation of chromosome replication. Although phosphorylation of DnaA has been reported earlier, its biological role was unknown. This work shows that upon phosphorylation, the cooperative binding of the replication origin by DnaA may be disturbed. We found that AfsK kinase is responsible for phosphorylation of DnaA. Upon upregulation of AfsK, chromosome replication occurred further from the hyphal tip. Orthologs of AfsK are exclusively found in mycelial actinomycetes that are related to Streptomyces and exhibit a complex life cycle. We propose that the AfsK-mediated regulatory pathway serves as a nonessential, energy-saving mechanism in S. coelicolor.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
AfsK, DnaA, phosphorylation, replication, Streptomyces
in
Journal of Bacteriology
volume
202
issue
3
publisher
American Society for Microbiology
external identifiers
  • scopus:85077952759
  • pmid:31712280
ISSN
0021-9193
DOI
10.1128/JB.00597-19
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
8668c11f-8feb-4b96-a48a-46547469bbc0
alternative location
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6964744/
date added to LUP
2020-02-03 10:50:20
date last changed
2024-03-20 03:49:29
@article{8668c11f-8feb-4b96-a48a-46547469bbc0,
  abstract     = {{<p>In all organisms, chromosome replication is regulated mainly at the initiation step. Most of the knowledge about the mechanisms that regulate replication initiation in bacteria has come from studies on rod-shaped bacteria, such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilisStreptomyces is a bacterial genus that is characterized by distinctive features and a complex life cycle that shares some properties with the developmental cycle of filamentous fungi. The unusual lifestyle of streptomycetes suggests that these bacteria use various mechanisms to control key cellular processes. Here, we provide the first insights into the phosphorylation of the bacterial replication initiator protein, DnaA, from Streptomyces coelicolor We suggest that phosphorylation of DnaA triggers a conformational change that increases its ATPase activity and decreases its affinity for the replication origin, thereby blocking the formation of a functional orisome. We suggest that the phosphorylation of DnaA is catalyzed by Ser/Thr kinase AfsK, which was shown to regulate the polar growth of S. coelicolor Together, our results reveal that phosphorylation of the DnaA initiator protein functions as a negative regulatory mechanism to control the initiation of chromosome replication in a manner that presumably depends on the cellular localization of the protein.IMPORTANCE This work provides insights into the phosphorylation of the DnaA initiator protein in Streptomyces coelicolor and suggests a novel bacterial regulatory mechanism for initiation of chromosome replication. Although phosphorylation of DnaA has been reported earlier, its biological role was unknown. This work shows that upon phosphorylation, the cooperative binding of the replication origin by DnaA may be disturbed. We found that AfsK kinase is responsible for phosphorylation of DnaA. Upon upregulation of AfsK, chromosome replication occurred further from the hyphal tip. Orthologs of AfsK are exclusively found in mycelial actinomycetes that are related to Streptomyces and exhibit a complex life cycle. We propose that the AfsK-mediated regulatory pathway serves as a nonessential, energy-saving mechanism in S. coelicolor.</p>}},
  author       = {{Łebkowski, Tomasz and Wolański, Marcin and Ołdziej, Stanisław and Flärdh, Klas and Zakrzewska-Czerwińska, Jolanta}},
  issn         = {{0021-9193}},
  keywords     = {{AfsK; DnaA; phosphorylation; replication; Streptomyces}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{American Society for Microbiology}},
  series       = {{Journal of Bacteriology}},
  title        = {{AfsK-Mediated Site-Specific Phosphorylation Regulates DnaA Initiator Protein Activity in Streptomyces coelicolor}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JB.00597-19}},
  doi          = {{10.1128/JB.00597-19}},
  volume       = {{202}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}