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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2007, p. 2310-2318, Vol. 189, No. 6
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01660-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Role of an FtsK-Like Protein in Genetic Stability in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2){triangledown}

Lei Wang,1 Yanfei Yu,1 Xinyi He,1,2 Xiufen Zhou,1,2 Zixin Deng,1,2 Keith F. Chater,3 and Meifeng Tao1*

State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China,1 Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200030, China,2 John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom3

Received 26 October 2006/ Accepted 27 December 2006

Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) does not have a canonical cell division cycle during most of its complex life cycle, yet it contains a gene (ftsKSC) encoding a protein similar to FtsK, which couples the completion of cell division and chromosome segregation in unicellular bacteria such as Escherichia coli. Here, we show that various constructed ftsKSC mutants all grew apparently normally and sporulated but upon restreaking gave rise to many aberrant colonies and to high frequencies of chloramphenicol-sensitive mutants, a phenotype previously associated with large terminal deletions from the linear chromosome. Indeed, most of the aberrant colonies had lost large fragments near one or both chromosomal termini, as if chromosome ends had failed to reach their prespore destination before the closure of sporulation septa. A constructed FtsKSC-enhanced green fluorescent protein fusion protein was particularly abundant in aerial hyphae, forming distinctive complexes before localizing to each sporulation septum, suggesting a role for FtsKSC in chromosome segregation during sporulation. Use of a fluorescent reporter showed that when ftsKSC was deleted, several spore compartments in most spore chains failed to express the late-sporulation-specific sigma factor gene sigF, even though they contained chromosomal DNA. This suggested that sigF expression is autonomously activated in each spore compartment in response to completion of chromosome transfer, which would be a previously unknown checkpoint for late-sporulation-specific gene expression. These results provide new insight into the genetic instability prevalent among streptomycetes, including those used in the industrial production of antibiotics.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China. Phone: 86-27-87283702. Fax: 86-27-87280670. E-mail: tao_meifeng{at}yahoo.com.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 5 January 2007.

Journal of Bacteriology, March 2007, p. 2310-2318, Vol. 189, No. 6
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01660-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Salerno, P., Larsson, J., Bucca, G., Laing, E., Smith, C. P., Flardh, K. (2009). One of the Two Genes Encoding Nucleoid-Associated HU Proteins in Streptomyces coelicolor Is Developmentally Regulated and Specifically Involved in Spore Maturation. J. Bacteriol. 191: 6489-6500 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dedrick, R. M., Wildschutte, H., McCormick, J. R. (2009). Genetic Interactions of smc, ftsK, and parB Genes in Streptomyces coelicolor and Their Developmental Genome Segregation Phenotypes. J. Bacteriol. 191: 320-332 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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