About this Research Topic
As single cell organisms, bacteria and archaea constantly adapt to ever-changing environmental conditions. Typical examples of environmental conditions include exposure to antibiotics, nutrient limitation, changes in physical parameters (pH, temperature, osmotic pressure) exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation or oxidative stress. As various types of such conditions might adversely affect control mechanisms within maintaining chromosome dynamics, bacterial cells have developed highly advanced survival strategies to overcome the negative impact of the encountered stress, and hence adapt to unfavorable conditions, thereby allowing the colonization of various ecological niches including host organisms. However, the molecular mechanisms of how chromosome maintenance systems cope with such challenges and potentially help to overcome significant threats to genome stability, cell cycle regulation, and cell viability, remain only purely understood.
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Review, and Mini Review articles focusing on the influence of changing environmental conditions on bacterial and archaeal chromosome dynamics, such as chromosome organization, replication (initiation, elongation, and termination), and segregation. A special emphasis will be put on the understanding of molecular survival mechanisms and strategies adopted by cells to preserve cell cycle regulation and genome integrity in response to stress conditions.
Keywords: Stress, Adaptation, Chromosome Dynamics, Bacteria, Archaea, DNA Replication, Segregation, Cell Cycle Control
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.