Independence of circadian timing from cell division in cyanobacteria.
In the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus, cell division is regulated by a circadian clock. Deletion of the circadian clock gene, kaiC, abolishes rhythms of gene expression and cell division timing. Overexpression of the ftsZ gene halted cell division but not growth, causing cells to grow as filaments without dividing. The nondividing filamentous cells still exhibited robust circadian rhythms of gene expression. This result indicates that the circadian timing system is independent of rhythmic cell division and, together with other results, suggests that the cyanobacterial circadian system is stable and well sustained under a wide range of intracellular conditions.
Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, USA.
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D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D056925:Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D000458:Cyanobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D056925:Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria; C114271:KaiC protein, cyanobacteria; D008156:Luciferases