title: Fifty years after the replicon hypothesis: cell-specific master regulators as new players in chromosome replication control.
abstract: Numerous free-living bacteria undergo complex differentiation in response to unfavorable environmental conditions or as part of their natural cell cycle. Developmental programs require the de novo expression of several sets of genes responsible for morphological, physiological, and metabolic changes, such as spore/endospore formation, the generation of flagella, and the synthesis of antibiotics. Notably, the frequency of chromosomal replication initiation events must also be adjusted with respect to the developmental stage in order to ensure that each nascent cell receives a single copy of the chromosomal DNA. In this review, we focus on the master transcriptional factors, Spo0A, CtrA, and AdpA, which coordinate developmental program and which were recently demonstrated to control chromosome replication. We summarize the current state of knowledge on the role of these developmental regulators in synchronizing the replication with cell differentiation in Bacillus subtilis, Caulobacter crescentus, and Streptomyces coelicolor, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wolański
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland Department of Microbiology, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Dagmara
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jakimowicz
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland Department of Microbiology, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland jolanta.zakrzewska@uni.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zakrzewska-Czerwińska
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D016935:Caulobacter crescentus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D020090:Chromosome Segregation; D042522:DNA Replication Timing; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D048372:Streptomyces coelicolor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development