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Journal of Bacteriology, October 1999, p. 6073-6080, Vol. 181, No. 19
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Partitioning, Movement, and Positioning of Nucleoids in Mycoplasma capricolum

Shintaro Seto and Makoto Miyata*

Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan

Received 8 January 1999/Accepted 17 May 1999

The nucleoids in Mycoplasma capricolum cells were visualized by phase-combined fluorescence microscopy of DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole)-stained cells. Most growing cells in a rich medium had one or two nucleoids in a cell, and no anucleate cells were found. The nucleoids were positioned in the center in mononucleoid cells and at one-quarter and three-quarters of the cell length in binucleoid cells. These formations may have the purpose of ensuring delivery of replicated DNA to daughter cells. Internucleoid distances in binucleoid cells correlated with the cell lengths, and the relationship of DNA content to cell length showed that cell length depended on DNA content in binucleoid cells but not in mononucleoid cells. These observations suggest that cell elongation takes place in combination with nucleoid movement. Lipid synthesis was inhibited by transfer of cells to a medium lacking supplementation for lipid synthesis. The transferred cells immediately stopped dividing and elongated while regular spaces were maintained between the nucleoids for 1 h. After 1 h, the cells changed their shapes from rod-like to round, but the proportion of multinucleoid cells increased. Inhibition of protein synthesis by chloramphenicol induced nucleoid condensation and abnormal positioning, although partitioning was not inhibited. These results suggest that nucleoid partitioning does not require lipid or protein synthesis, while regular positioning requires both. When DNA replication was inhibited, the cells formed branches, and the nucleoids were positioned at the branching points. A model for the reproduction process of M. capricolum, including nucleoid migration and cell division, is discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585, Japan. Phone: 81(6)6605 3157. Fax: 81(6)6605 2522. E-mail: miyata{at}sci.osaka-cu.ac.jp.

Journal of Bacteriology, October 1999, p. 6073-6080, Vol. 181, No. 19
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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