＜Chromosome Segregation in Bacteria＞

Chromosome must be precisely segregated into daughter cells for bacterial cells to proliferate. Although prokaryotic cells does not have “nuclei” that exist in Eukaryote, the chromosomal DNA, which is about 1000 times longer than cell length, is tightly condensed as “nucleoid” within the cell.
How such a tighltly packed chromosome can be segregated into daghter cells? We attempt to reveal the mechanism of this active chromomal segregation system in bacterial cell.

1. Centromere Like Region in Bacteria

2. A moter protein that moves DNA

＜ Novel Genetic System for Chromosome Study ＞

Yeasts are powerful genetic tool to identify new elements or new phenotypes in a wide range of biology. However, due to its small cell size, there is a limitation in detailed cell biological analysis. Schizosaccharomyces japonicus is an alternative fission yeast. Although this haploid organism is poorly developed as a genetic tool, its nearly twice large nuclear size and fibrously condensed mitotic chromosomes compare to the other yeasts can be more suitable model system to understand mechanism of chromosome organization in vivo, such as mitotic chromosome segregation or interphase chromosome compartment. Our final aim is to discover new mechanisms that regulate chromosome cycle through the isolation of mutants with novel cytological phenotypes. We are currently collecting mutants showing disorganized chromosome behaviors. In parallel, we are generating chromosomal markers to ease our analysis. Thanks to Broad Institute, S. japonicus genomic sequences are fully available, and we have already tagged several important factors to visualize those components.

国立遺伝学研究所
遺伝形質研究系 微生物機能研究室（仁木研究室）

〒411-8540 静岡県三島市谷田1111 ＞ 連絡先詳細および地図はこちら

Microbial Physiology Laboratory (Niki Laboratory)
Department of Gene Function and Phenomics
National Institute of Genetics

1111 Yata Mishima Shizuoka Japan P.O. 411-8540 > Contact details and Maps