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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Nucleic Acids Research

Genome replication and cell division control by the methylation-sensitive GcrA regulator in Agrobacterium tumefaciens

  • Florian Fournes1
  • Sandra Martin1
  • Nicolas Pellaton1
  • Michael Taschner1
  • Karolina Bojkowska2
  • Julien Marquis2
  • Stephan Gruber1
  • Justine Collier1
  1. 1Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne , Lausanne CH-1015 ,
  2. 2Lausanne Genomic Technologies Facility, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne , Lausanne CH-1015 ,
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Abstract

Bacteria with complex genomes including secondary chromosomes and/or megaplasmids face unique challenges when controlling their cell cycle: they not only need to coordinate genome replication with other cell cycle events such as cell growth and cell division, but also to synchronize the replication of different replicons. In Alphaproteobacteria, replication and maintenance of large extrachromosomal replicons are usually dependent on RepABC modules, as seen for the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In this study, we demonstrate that the conserved GcrA protein is an essential methylation-dependent transcriptional regulator playing at least two critical roles during the A. tumefaciens cell cycle. First, GcrA is required for the on-time and synchronized firing of the three RepABC-dependent origins of replication of A. tumefaciens that are needed for chromosomal and megaplasmid replication. Second, GcrA triggers the expression of several essential cell division genes for the timely assembly of a functional divisome. These findings highlight how this conserved global regulator can control and then synchronize a variety of essential cell cycle events in Alphaproteobacteria with complex genomes, notably coordinating the maintenance of several RepABC-dependent replicons with cell division.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{fournes2026genome,
  title = {{Genome replication and cell division control by the methylation-sensitive GcrA regulator in Agrobacterium tumefaciens}},
  author = {Florian Fournes and Sandra Martin and Nicolas Pellaton and Michael Taschner and Karolina Bojkowska and Julien Marquis and Stephan Gruber and Justine Collier},
  journal = {Nucleic Acids Research},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1093/nar/gkag997},
  url = {https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/doi/10.1093/nar/gkag997/8971828},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Genome replication and cell division control by the methylation-sensitive GcrA regulator in Agrobacterium tumefaciens
AU  - Florian Fournes
AU  - Sandra Martin
AU  - Nicolas Pellaton
AU  - Michael Taschner
AU  - Karolina Bojkowska
AU  - Julien Marquis
AU  - Stephan Gruber
AU  - Justine Collier
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/01
JO  - Nucleic Acids Research
DO  - 10.1093/nar/gkag997
UR  - https://academic.oup.com/nar/article/doi/10.1093/nar/gkag997/8971828
AB  - Bacteria with complex genomes including secondary chromosomes and/or megaplasmids face unique challenges when controlling their cell cycle: they not only need to coordinate genome replication with other cell cycle events such as cell growth and cell division, but also to synchronize the replication of different replicons. In Alphaproteobacteria, replication and maintenance of large extrachromosomal replicons are usually dependent on RepABC modules, as seen for the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In this study, we demonstrate that the conserved GcrA protein is an essential methylation-dependent transcriptional regulator playing at least two critical roles during the A. tumefaciens cell cycle. First, GcrA is required for the on-time and synchronized firing of the three RepABC-dependent origins of replication of A. tumefaciens that are needed for chromosomal and megaplasmid replication. Second, GcrA triggers the expression of several essential cell division genes for the timely assembly of a functional divisome. These findings highlight how this conserved global regulator can control and then synchronize a variety of essential cell cycle events in Alphaproteobacteria with complex genomes, notably coordinating the maintenance of several RepABC-dependent replicons with cell division.
SN  - 0305-1048
SN  - 1362-4962
ER  -