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Bacterial physiology

The dynamic ParM engine

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 3, page 6 (2005)Cite this article

ParM is encoded in the par operon, a partitioning locus harboured on the R1 drug-resistance plasmid. Together with ParC (centromere) and ParR (DNA-binding protein), ParM (ATPase) functions to position plasmid pairs at opposite ends of rod-shaped bacteria, ensuring plasmid distribution to both daughter cells following division.

ParM was known to polymerize to form filaments that extended along the length of the cell, with plasmids located at the ends of the filaments. But until now, how the ParM machine functions has not been clear. ParM was labelled and filament assembly monitored by dual-colour fluorescence microscopy. Unlike actin filaments, which assemble unidirectionally, ParM filaments assembled bidirectionally with monomers added to both ends of the filaments.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Garner, E. C. et al. Dynamic instability in a DNA-segregating prokaryotic actin homolog. Science 306, 1021–1025 (2004)

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  1. Susan Jones
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Jones, S. The dynamic ParM engine. Nat Rev Microbiol 3, 6 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1080

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1080

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