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Replication termination in Escherichia coli: structure and antihelicase activity of the Tus-Ter complex

Replication termination in Escherichia coli: structure and antihelicase activity of the Tus-Ter complex
Replication termination in Escherichia coli: structure and antihelicase activity of the Tus-Ter complex
The arrest of DNA replication in Escherichia coli is triggered by the encounter of a replisome with a Tus protein-Ter DNA complex. A replication fork can pass through a Tus-Ter complex when traveling in one direction but not the other, and the chromosomal Ter sites are oriented so replication forks can enter, but not exit, the terminus region. The Tus-Ter complex acts by blocking the action of the replicative DnaB helicase, but details of the mechanism are uncertain. One proposed mechanism involves a specific interaction between Tus-Ter and the helicase that prevents further DNA unwinding, while another is that the Tus-Ter complex itself is sufficient to block the helicase in apolar manner, without the need for specific protein -protein interactions. This review integrates three decades of experimental information on the action of the Tus-Ter complex with information available from the Tus-TerA crystal structure. We conclude that while it is possible to explain polar fork arrest by a mechanism involving only the Tus- Ter interaction, there are also strong indications of a role for specific Tus-DnaB interactions. The evidence suggests, therefore, that the termination system is more subtle and complex than may have been assumed. We describe some further experiments and insights that may assist in unraveling the details of this fascinating process.
helicase dnab protein, single-stranded-dna, exhibit polar inhibition, complete genome sequence, large tumor-antigen, fork-arrest, bacillus-subtilis, terminus region, crystal-structure, binding-protein
1092-2172
501-526
Neylon, Cameron
697f067b-db25-4c41-9618-28f4b74f73aa
Kralicek, Andrew V.
5f8de1fd-0d46-4b6c-95d4-c1e8ca5e55f1
Hill, Thomas M.
72ce72d6-08ae-4e4b-bf2e-f8d8c21939e7
Dixon, Nicholas E.
29679e00-7adc-4c6d-bf48-bc68d756a6fa
Neylon, Cameron
697f067b-db25-4c41-9618-28f4b74f73aa
Kralicek, Andrew V.
5f8de1fd-0d46-4b6c-95d4-c1e8ca5e55f1
Hill, Thomas M.
72ce72d6-08ae-4e4b-bf2e-f8d8c21939e7
Dixon, Nicholas E.
29679e00-7adc-4c6d-bf48-bc68d756a6fa

Neylon, Cameron, Kralicek, Andrew V., Hill, Thomas M. and Dixon, Nicholas E. (2005) Replication termination in Escherichia coli: structure and antihelicase activity of the Tus-Ter complex. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, 69 (3), 501-526. (doi:10.1128/MMBR.69.3.501-526.2005).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The arrest of DNA replication in Escherichia coli is triggered by the encounter of a replisome with a Tus protein-Ter DNA complex. A replication fork can pass through a Tus-Ter complex when traveling in one direction but not the other, and the chromosomal Ter sites are oriented so replication forks can enter, but not exit, the terminus region. The Tus-Ter complex acts by blocking the action of the replicative DnaB helicase, but details of the mechanism are uncertain. One proposed mechanism involves a specific interaction between Tus-Ter and the helicase that prevents further DNA unwinding, while another is that the Tus-Ter complex itself is sufficient to block the helicase in apolar manner, without the need for specific protein -protein interactions. This review integrates three decades of experimental information on the action of the Tus-Ter complex with information available from the Tus-TerA crystal structure. We conclude that while it is possible to explain polar fork arrest by a mechanism involving only the Tus- Ter interaction, there are also strong indications of a role for specific Tus-DnaB interactions. The evidence suggests, therefore, that the termination system is more subtle and complex than may have been assumed. We describe some further experiments and insights that may assist in unraveling the details of this fascinating process.

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More information

Published date: 1 September 2005
Keywords: helicase dnab protein, single-stranded-dna, exhibit polar inhibition, complete genome sequence, large tumor-antigen, fork-arrest, bacillus-subtilis, terminus region, crystal-structure, binding-protein

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 20876
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/20876
ISSN: 1092-2172
PURE UUID: db00503a-42e0-4d44-add3-4056676abf4d

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Date deposited: 02 Mar 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 06:26

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Contributors

Author: Cameron Neylon
Author: Andrew V. Kralicek
Author: Thomas M. Hill
Author: Nicholas E. Dixon

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