Invited Speaker
Marcelo Nollman
Mechanism of chromosomal segregation by SpoIIIE/FtsK
Throughout the cell cycle, the chromosome is replicated, transcribed, organized and segregated: all these processes involve the coordinated activity of a large number of molecular motors that regulate the movement and topological state of DNA. FtsK and SpoIIIE are double-stranded DNA translocases involved in DNA segregation during cell division and sporulation (E.coli and B. subtilis, respectively), and their activity has important consequences for other DNA regulation processes. SpoIIIE and FtsK achieve their unidirectional translocation by specifically recognizing highly skewed chromosomal sequences. Here, we will report on a combination of in vitro and in vivo single-molecule studies that allowed us to advance our understanding into the mechanism of translocation and sequence recognition by the SpoIIIE/FtsK/Tra family, and on the consequences of their motion.