Bacterial Chromosome Dynamics

Bacterial chromosomes are highly compacted structures and share many properties with their eukaryote counterparts, despite not being organized into chromatin or being contained within a cell nucleus. Proteins conserved across all branches of life act in chromosome organization, and common mechanisms...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2003-08, Vol.301 (5634), p.780-785
Main Author: Sherratt, David J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacteria
Bacterial chromosomes
Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
Bacterial Proteins - chemistry
Bacterial Proteins - physiology
Cell Division
Cell separation
Cells
Chromosome Segregation
Chromosomes
Chromosomes, Bacterial - chemistry
Chromosomes, Bacterial - physiology
Chromosomes, Bacterial - ultrastructure
Daughter cells
Daughters
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Developmental Programs
DNA
DNA Replication
DNA, Bacterial - metabolism
Eukaryotic cells
Genes
Genetic aspects
Genetics
Molecular Biology
Physiological aspects
Recombination, Genetic
Replication origin
Reviews and Viewpoints
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Summary:Bacterial chromosomes are highly compacted structures and share many properties with their eukaryote counterparts, despite not being organized into chromatin or being contained within a cell nucleus. Proteins conserved across all branches of life act in chromosome organization, and common mechanisms maintain genome integrity and ensure faithful replication. The principles that underlie chromosome segregation in bacteria and eukaryotes share similarities, although bacteria segregate DNA as it replicates and lack a eukaryote-like mitotic apparatus for segregating chromosomes. This may be because the distances that newly replicated bacterial chromosomes move apart before cell division are small as compared to those in eukaryotes. Bacteria specify positional information, which determines where cell division will occur and which places the replication machinery and chromosomal loci at defined locations that change during cell cycle progression.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1084780