CGM - Department Dynamics & Stability of Genomes
Chromosome segregation and cell division
Group leader: François-Xavier BARRE
Last update: 22-Feb-2012
Composition of the group
François-Xavier Barre, Directeur de Rech.
Ariane David, PhD Student
Gaëlle Demarre, Post-doctoral fellow
Elisa Galli, Post-doctoral fellow
Eriel Martinez, Post-doctoral fellow
Caroline Midonet, Master 2 student
Evelyne Paly, Technician
Christophe Possoz, Chargé de Recherche, CNRS
Address
CNRS - Centre de Génétique Moléculaire - UPR 3404
Avenue de la Terrasse - Bât. 26
91198 GIF-SUR-YVETTE Cedex
FRANCE
Phone : 33 (0)1 69 82 32 24
Telecopy : 33 (0)1 69 82 31 60
Grants
The group is supported by a 3-year grant from the 2006 EMBO Young Investigator program, a 3-year grant from the 2007 FRM team program and a 4-year grant from the ANR Blanc 2009 program.
Research interests
During cell proliferation, DNA synthesis, chromosome segregation and cell division must be coordinated to ensure the stable inheritance of the genetic material. In eukaryotes, this is achieved by their temporal separation and the existence of checkpoint mechanisms that delay certain steps until others are completed. In contrast, there is no temporal separation in bacteria. Moreover, certain steps are interdependent. For instance, formation of a division septum on partially segregated chromosomes is not only frequent but also essential to fulfil the final stages of chromosome segregation when chromosome dimers have been formed in Escherichia coli (1, 2). Thus, in bacteria, DNA synthesis, chromosome segregation and cell division are integrated rather than simply coordinated.
The group explores the molecular mechanisms that underlie the integration of cell division and chromosome segregation in two model organisms: E. coli, which harbours a single circular chromosome, and Vibrio cholerae, a bacterium in which we expect coordination to be even more crucial than in E. coli since it harbours two circular chromosomes (3).
In parallel, we study how CTXf, a vibriophage that hijacks the chromosome dimer resolution machinery of its host to mediate lysogeny. A major determinant of V. cholerae pathogenicity, the cholera enterotoxin, is encoded in the genome of CTXf, so that CTXf integration is a key factor in the emergence of new pathogenic strains of V. cholerae (4, 5). Deciphering the molecular details of the life cycle of CTXf is therefore useful in terms of ecology and epidemiology. .
References:
1. Dubarry, N. and Barre, F.-X. (2010) Fully efficient chromosome dimer resolution in Escherichia coli cells lacking the integral membrane domain of FtsK. EMBO J, 29 (3) 597-605.
2. Kennedy, S.-P., Chevalier, F. and Barre, F.-X. (2008) Delayed activation of Xer recombination at dif by FtsK during septum assembly in Escherichia coli. Mol Microbiol, 68 (4) 1018-28.8.
3. Val, M.-E., Kennedy, S.-P., El Karoui, M., Bonné, L., Chevalier, F. and Barre, F.-X. (2008) FtsK-dependent dimer resolution on multiple chromosomes in the pathogen Vibrio cholerae. PLoS Genet, 4 (9) e1000201.
4. Das, B., Bischerour, J., Val, M.-E. and Barre, F.-X. (2010) Molecular keys of the tropism of integration of the cholera toxin phage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 107 (9) 4377-82. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0910212107
5. Val, M., Bouvier, M., Campos, J., Sherratt, D., Cornet, F., Mazel, D., and Barre, F. (2005). The single-stranded genome of phage CTX is the form used for integration into the genome of Vibrio cholerae. Mol Cell 19, 559-566.
Key words:
Site-specific recombination, chromosome segregation, cell division, phage lysogeny, Escherichia coli, Vibrio choleare
Groups working on related subjects:
Dr J.-F. Allemand
Dr F. Cornet
Dr F. Boccard
Dr Didier Mazel
Dr B. Michel
Pr David J. Sherratt
Publications (since 1998)
Possoz, C., Junier, I., Espeli, O. (2012) Bacterial chromosome segregation. Front Biosci, 17, 1020-34. Review.
Das, B., Bischerour, J., Barre, FX. (2011) Molecular mechanism of acquisition of the cholera toxin genes. Indian J Med Res, 133 (2) 195-200.
Das, B., Bischerour, J. Barre, F. X. (2011) VGJ{phi} integration and excision mechanisms contribute to the genetic diversity of Vibrio cholerae epidemic strains. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 108 (6) 2516-21.
Das, B., Bischerour, J., Val, M.-E. and Barre, F.-X. (2010) Molecular keys of the tropism of integration of the cholera toxin phage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 107 (9) 4377-82.
Manosas, M., Meglio, A., Spiering, MM., Ding, F., Benkovic, SJ., Barre, FX., Saleh, OA., Allemand, JF., Bensimon, D., Croquette, V. (2010) Magnetic tweezers for the study of DNA tracking motors. Methods Enzymol, 475, 297-320. Walter, NG. Ed., Academic Press, San Diego, USA.
Dubarry, N., Possoz, C., Barre, F-X. (2010) Multiple regions along the Escherichia coli FtsK protein are implicated in cell division. Mol Microbiol, 78 (5) 1088-100.
Dubarry, N. and Barre, F.-X. (2010) Fully efficient chromosome dimer resolution in Escherichia coli cells lacking the integral membrane domain of FtsK. EMBO J, 29 (3) 597-605.
Bonné, L., Bigot, S., Chevalier, F., Allemand, J.-F. and Barre, F.-X. (2009) Asymmetric DNA requirements in Xer recombination activation by FtsK. Nucleic Acids Res, 23 (7) 2371-80.
Val, M.-E., Kennedy, S.-P., El Karoui, M., Bonné, L., Chevalier, F. and Barre, F.-X. (2008) FtsK-dependent dimer resolution on multiple chromosomes in the pathogen Vibrio cholerae. PLoS Genet, 4 (9) e1000201.
Kennedy, S.-P., Chevalier, F. and Barre, F.-X. (2008) Delayed activation of Xer recombination at dif by FtsK during septum assembly in Escherichia coli. Mol Microbiol, 68 (4) 1018-28.
Barre, F.-X. (2007) FtsK and SpoIIIE: the tale of the conserved tails. Mol Microbiol. 66 (5) 1051-1055. Review.
Bigot, S., Sivanathan, V., Possoz, C., Barre, F.-X. and Cornet, F. (2007) FtsK, a literate chromosome segregation machine. Mol Microbiol, 64 (6) 1434-41. Review.
Bigot, S., Saleh, O. A., Cornet, F., Allemand, J.-F. and Barre, F.-X. (2006) Oriented loading of FtsK on KOPS. Nat Struct Mol Biol, 13 (11) 1026-8.
Lionnet, T., Dawid, A., Bigot, S., Barre, F.-X., Saleh, O., Heslot, F., Allemand, J.-F., Bensimon, D. and Croquette, V. (2006) DNA mechanics as a tool to probe helicase and translocase activity. Nucleic Acids Res, 34 (15) 4232-44.
Barre, F.-X. and Sherratt, D. J. (2005) Chromosome dimer resolution. In The bacterial chromosome N. P. Higgins (Ed.), ASM press.
Val, M., Bouvier, M., Campos, J., Sherratt, D., Cornet, F., Mazel, D., and Barre, F. (2005). The single-stranded genome of phage CTX is the form used for integration into the genome of Vibrio cholerae. Mol Cell 19, 559-566.
Saleh, O., Bigot, S., Barre, F., and Allemand, J. (2005). Analysis of DNA supercoil induction by FtsK indicates translocation without groove-tracking. Nat Struct Mol Biol 12, 436-440.
Lesterlin, C., Mercier, R., Boccard, F., Barre, F.-X., and Cornet, F. (2005). Roles for replichores and macrodomains in segregation of the Escherichia coli chromosome. EMBO Rep 6, 557-562.
Bigot, S., Saleh, O., Lesterlin, C., Pages, C., El Karoui, M., Dennis, C., Grigoriev, M., Allemand, J., Barre, F., and Cornet, F. (2005). KOPS: DNA motifs that control E. coli chromosome segregation by orienting the FtsK translocase. EMBO J 24 3770-3780.
Barre, F.-X., and Sherratt, D. J. (2005). Chromosome dimer resolution. In The bacterial chromosome, P. N. Higgins, ed. (Washington, D. C., ASM press), pp. 513-524.
Bigot, S., Corre, J., Louarn, J., Cornet, F., and Barre, F. X. (2004). FtsK activities in Xer recombination, DNA mobilization and cell division involve overlapping and separate domains of the protein. Mol Microbiol 54, 876-886.
Lesterlin, C., Barre, F. X., and Cornet, F. (2004). Genetic recombination and the cell cycle: what we learned from chromosome dimers. Mol Microbiol 54, 1151-1160.
Massey, T. H., Aussel, L., Barre, F.-X., and Sherratt, D. J. (2004). Asymmetric activation of Xer site-specific recombination by FtsK. EMBO Rep 5, 399-404.
Saleh, O. A., Perals, C., Barre, F. X., and Allemand, J. F. (2004). Fast, DNA-sequence independent translocation by FtsK in a single-molecule experiment. EMBO J 23, 2430-2439.
Lau, I. F., Filipe, S. R., Soballe, B., OA, O., Barre, F. X., and Sherratt, D. J. (2003). Spatial and temporal organization of replicating Escherichia coli chromosomes. Mol Microbiol 49, 731-743.
Ip, S. C., Bregu, M., Barre, F. X., and Sherratt, D. J. (2003). Decatenation of DNA circles by FtsK-dependent Xer site-specific recombination. EMBO J 22, 6399-6407.
Yates, J., Aroyo, M., Sherratt, D. J., and Barre, F. X. (2003). Species specificity in the activation of Xer recombination at dif by FtsK. Mol Microbiol 49, 241-249.
Barre, F.-X., and Sherratt, D. J. S. (2002). Xer Site-Specific Recombination: Promoting Chromosome Segregation. In Mobile DNA II, N. L. Craig, R. Craigie, M. Gellert, and A. Lambowitz, eds. (Washington, D.C., ASM Press), pp. 149-161.
Aussel, L., Barre, F. X., Aroyo, M., Stasiak, A., Stasiak, A. Z., and Sherratt, D. (2002). FtsK is a DNA motor protein that activates chromosome dimer resolution by switching the catalytic state of the XerC and XerD recombinases. Cell 108, 195-205.
Sherratt, D. J., Lau, I. F., and Barre, F. X. (2001). Chromosome segregation. Curr Opin Microbiol 4, 653-659.
Sherratt, D. J., Soballe, B., Barre, F. X., Filipe, S., Lau, I., Massey, T., and Yates, J. (2004). Recombination and chromosome segregation. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 359, 61-69.
Barre, F. X., Soballe, B., Michel, B., Aroyo, M., Robertson, M., and Sherratt, D. (2001). Circles: The replication-recombination-chromosome segregation connection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 98, 8189-8195.
Barre, F. X., Ait-Si-Ali, S., Giovannangeli, C., Luis, R., Robin, P., Pritchard, L. L., Helene, C., and Harel-Bellan, A. (2000). Unambiguous demonstration of triple-helix-directed gene modification. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97, 3084-3088.
Barre, F. X., Aroyo, M., Colloms, S. D., Helfrich, A., Cornet, F., and Sherratt, D. J. (2000). FtsK functions in the processing of a Holliday junction intermediate during bacterial chromosome segregation. Genes Dev 14, 2976-2988.
Barre, F. X., Asseline, U., and Harel-Bellan, A. (1999). Asymmetric recognition of psoralen interstrand crosslinks by the nucleotide excision repair and the error-prone repair pathways. J Mol Biol 286, 1379-1387.
Barre, F. X., Giovannangeli, C., Helene, C., and Harel-Bellan, A. (1999). Covalent crosslinks introduced via a triple helix-forming oligonucleotide coupled to psoralen are inefficiently repaired. Nucleic Acids Res 27, 743-749.
Barre, F. X., Mir, L. M., Lecluse, Y., and Harel-Bellan, A. (1998). Highly efficient oligonucleotide transfer into intact yeast cells using square-wave pulse electroporation. Biotechniques 25, 294-296.
Ait-Si-Ali, S., Ramirez, S., Barre, F. X., Dkhissi, F., Magnaghi-Jaulin, L., Girault, J. A., Robin, P., Knibiehler, M., Pritchard, L. L., Ducommun, B., et al. (1998). Histone acetyltransferase activity of CBP is controlled by cycle-dependent kinases and oncoprotein E1A. Nature 396, 184-186.
