ParS-independent recruitment of the bacterial chromosome-partitioning protein ParB

Abstract

The ParABS system plays an essential role in prokaryotic chromosome segregation. After loading at the parS site on the genome, ParB proteins rapidly redistribute to distances of ~15 kb away from the loading site. It has remained puzzling how this large-distance spreading can occur along DNA that is loaded with hundreds of proteins. Using single-molecule in vitro visualization, we here show that, unexpectedly, ParB can load onto DNA independently and distantly of parS, whereby loaded ParB molecules are themselves able to recruit additional ParB proteins from bulk. Strikingly, this recruitment can occur in-cis but also in-trans whereby, at low tensions within the DNA, newly recruited ParB can bypass roadblocks as it gets loaded to spatially proximal but genomically distant DNA regions. The data are supported by Molecular Dynamics simulations which also show that cooperative ParB-ParB recruitment enhances spreading. ParS-independent recruitment explains how ParB can cover substantial genomic distance during chromosome segregation which is vital for the bacterial cell cycle.