Membrane-associated DNA Transport Machines
- 1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- 2Public Health Research Center, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey
- Correspondence: dubnauda{at}umdnj.edu
Abstract
DNA pumps play important roles in bacteria during cell division and during the transfer of genetic material by conjugation and transformation. The FtsK/SpoIIIE proteins carry out the translocation of double-stranded DNA to ensure complete chromosome segregation during cell division. In contrast, the complex molecular machines that mediate conjugation and genetic transformation drive the transport of single stranded DNA. The transformation machine also processes this internalized DNA and mediates its recombination with the resident chromosome during and after uptake, whereas the conjugation apparatus processes DNA before transfer. This article reviews these three types of DNA pumps, with attention to what is understood of their molecular mechanisms, their energetics and their cellular localizations.
Footnotes
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Editors: Lucy Shapiro and Richard Losick
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Additional Perspectives on Cell Biology of Bacteria available at www.cshperspectives.org
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