Abstract
The Fis protein is a nucleoid associated protein that has previously been reported to act negatively in initiation of replication in Escherichia coli. In this work we have examined the influence of this protein on the initiation of replication under different growth conditions using flow cytometry. The Fis protein was found to be increasingly important with increasing growth rate. During multi-fork replication severe under-initiation occurred in cells lacking the Fis protein; the cells initiated at an elevated mass, had fewer origins per cell and the origins were not initiated in synchrony. These results suggest a positive role for the Fis protein in the initiation of replication.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Chromosomes, Bacterial / genetics
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Chromosomes, Bacterial / metabolism
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DNA Replication / genetics*
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DNA, Bacterial / genetics
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Escherichia coli / genetics*
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Escherichia coli / growth & development
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Escherichia coli Proteins / physiology*
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Factor For Inversion Stimulation Protein / physiology*
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Organisms, Genetically Modified
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Prokaryotic Initiation Factors / physiology
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Transcription Initiation, Genetic
Substances
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DNA, Bacterial
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Escherichia coli Proteins
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Factor For Inversion Stimulation Protein
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Fis protein, E coli
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Prokaryotic Initiation Factors
Grants and funding
This work was supported by The Norwegian Research Council FUGE program and CAMST platform and the FRIBIO program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.