Agrobacterium ParA/MinD-like VirC1 spatially coordinates early conjugative DNA transfer reactions

Agrobacterium tumefaciens translocates T‐DNA through a polar VirB/D4 type IV secretion (T4S) system. VirC1, a factor required for efficient T‐DNA transfer, bears a deviant Walker A and other sequence motifs characteristic of ParA and MinD ATPases. Here, we show that VirC1 promotes conjugative T‐DNA...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The EMBO journal 2007-05, Vol.26 (10), p.2540-2551
Main Authors: Atmakuri, Krishnamohan, Cascales, Eric, Burton, Oliver T, Banta, Lois M, Christie, Peter J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adenosine Triphosphatases - chemistry
Adenosine Triphosphatases - genetics
Adenosine Triphosphatases - metabolism
Agrobacterium tumefaciens
Agrobacterium tumefaciens - pathogenicity
Amino Acid Motifs
Amino Acid Sequence
ATPase
Bacteria
Cells
conjugation
Conjugation, Genetic
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA, Bacterial - metabolism
EMBO23
Enzymes
Escherichia coli - genetics
Escherichia coli - growth & development
Glutathione Transferase - metabolism
In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence
Life Sciences
Membranes
Microbiology
Mutation
partitioning
Pathogens
Plasmids
Recombinant Proteins - isolation & purification
Recombinant Proteins - metabolism
relaxosome
Substrates
type IV secretion
Virulence Factors - genetics
Virulence Factors - metabolism
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Summary:Agrobacterium tumefaciens translocates T‐DNA through a polar VirB/D4 type IV secretion (T4S) system. VirC1, a factor required for efficient T‐DNA transfer, bears a deviant Walker A and other sequence motifs characteristic of ParA and MinD ATPases. Here, we show that VirC1 promotes conjugative T‐DNA transfer by stimulating generation of multiple copies per cell of the T‐DNA substrate (T‐complex) through pairwise interactions with the processing factors VirD2 relaxase, VirC2, and VirD1. VirC1 also associates with the polar membrane and recruits T‐complexes to cell poles, the site of VirB/D4 T4S machine assembly. VirC1 Walker A mutations abrogate T‐complex generation and polar recruitment, whereas the native protein recruits T‐complexes to cell poles independently of other polar processing factors (VirC2, VirD1) or T4S components (VirD4 substrate receptor, VirB channel subunits). We propose that A. tumefaciens has appropriated a progenitor ParA/MinD‐like ATPase to promote conjugative DNA transfer by: (i) nucleating relaxosome assembly at oriT ‐like T‐DNA border sequences and (ii) spatially positioning the transfer intermediate at the cell pole to coordinate substrate—T4S channel docking.
ISSN:0261-4189
1460-2075
DOI:10.1038/sj.emboj.7601696