Author(s)

Lin Lin, Abha Choudhary, Anish Bavishi, Madhusudan Choudhary^*

Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA.

The bacterial cell cycle consists of a series of genetically coordinated biochemical and biophysical events. In Caulobacter crescentus, CtrA is an essential cell cycle regulator that modulates many cell cycle processes. In the present study, the role of the CtrA was investigated in Rhodobacter sphaeroides 2.4.1 by employing genetic, molecular, and bioinformatic approaches. Examination of the ctrA-null mutant revealed that the loss of CtrA did not affect growth characteristics and cell morphology in R. sphaeroides when grown under aerobic or photosynthetic growth conditions but slower growth was noticed in the anaerobic-dark-DMSO condition. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that CtrA has diversified its role in major lineages of α-Proteobacteria and has possibly been involved in adaptation to variable lifestyles. Analysis of the CtrA binding sites in the R. sphaeroides genome suggests that CtrA may regulate 127 genes involving different cellular processes. Protein homology searches revealed that only a small number of ctrA-regulated genes are homologous across C. crescentus, R. capsulatus, and R. sphaeroides. Comparison of the functions of putative ctrA-regulated genes in C. crescentus, R. capsulatus, and R. sphaeroides revealed that all three species possessed broad pathway control across a variety of cluster of orthologous gene functions (COGs). However, interestingly, it seems that the essentiality of CtrA in C. crescentus may depend more on the selective control that it exerts on a few critical cell cycle genes and pathways that are not controlled by CtrA in a similar fashion in R. capsulatus and R. sphaeroides.

CtrA, Rhodobacter sphaeroides , Cell Cycle, Cell Cycle Regulation, Symmetric Cell Division, Motility

Lin, L. , Choudhary, A. , Bavishi, A. and Choudhary, M. (2018) CtrA Is Nonessential for Cell Cycle Regulation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Advances in Microbiology, 8, 558-577. doi: 10.4236/aim.2018.87037.