AUTHOR=Charbon Godefroid , Mendoza-Chamizo Belén , Campion Christopher , Li Xiaobo , Jensen Peter Ruhdal , Frimodt-Møller Jakob , Løbner-Olesen Anders 

TITLE=Energy Starvation Induces a Cell Cycle Arrest in Escherichia coli by Triggering Degradation of the DnaA Initiator Protein

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/molecular-biosciences/articles/10.3389/fmolb.2021.629953

DOI=10.3389/fmolb.2021.629953

ISSN=2296-889X

ABSTRACT=<p>During steady-state <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> growth, the amount and activity of the initiator protein, DnaA, controls chromosome replication tightly so that initiation only takes place once per origin in each cell cycle, regardless of growth conditions. However, little is known about the mechanisms involved during transitions from one environmental condition to another or during starvation stress. ATP depletion is one of the consequences of long-term carbon starvation. Here we show that DnaA is degraded in ATP-depleted cells. A chromosome replication initiation block is apparent in such cells as no new rounds of DNA replication are initiated while replication events that have already started proceed to completion.</p>