CdrS Is a Global Transcriptional Regulator Influencing Cell Division in Haloferax volcanii

Abstract

Cell division is a central mechanism of life and is essential for growth and development. Members of the Bacteria and Eukarya have different mechanisms for cell division, which have been studied in detail.

A novel RHH family transcription factor aCcr1 and its viral homologs dictate cell cycle progression in archaea

“…CdrS is a global transcriptional regulator, controlling expression of ftsZ. It also regulates the expression of genes linked to other metabolic and regulatory processes, likely allowing cells to properly coordinate growth, division, and metabolic activity (Liao et al, 2021a(Liao et al, , 2021b. CdrS binds upstream of the promoters of ftsZ1 and dacZ (encoding a diadenylate cyclase, DacZ), which synthesizes the second messenger molecule c-di-AMP, and three genes related to proteasome function (cdc48d, panA, and psmB) (Liao et al, 2021a;Liao et al, 2021b).…”

“…S1C). Furthermore, the aCcr1-box is similar to the most conserved part of the putative CdrS binding motif (also a palindromic sequence) (Liao et al, 2021b). Finally, CdrS and aCcr1 play equivalent roles in the control of cell cycle progression.…”

“…Whereas euryarchaea depend on the FtsZ-based bacterial-like system, most members of the TACK superphylum, including order Sulfolobales, as well as Asgardarchaeota employ the ESCRT-III/Vps4-based cell division machinery (also called Cdv system) (Caspi and Dekker, 2018;Lindas et al, 2008;Samson et al, 2011). In halophilic euryarchaea, a ribbon-helix-helix (RHH) family transcription factor, CdrS, plays a central role in the cell division regulation (Liao et al, 2021a(Liao et al, , 2021b. Crenarchaea, in particular, those from the Sulfolobales display eukaryotic-like cell cycle (Bernander, 2000), including a prereplicative growth period called the G1 phase, the chromosome replication stage (S phase), a second period of cellular growth (G2 phase), and rapid genome segregation and cell division periods, known as the M and D phases, respectively (Lindas and Bernander, 2013).…”

A clade of RHH proteins ubiquitous in Sulfolobales and their viruses regulates cell cycle progression

“…Our knowledge about cell cycle control in archaea is still very limited. The cell cycle transcriptional regulator CdrS (cell division regulator short) present in the Euryarchaeota phylum, was recently identified and characterized (Darnell et al, 2020; Liao et al, 2021). CdrS harbors an RHH domain that binds to promoters, and activates the transcription, of 18 genes, including four involved in cell division ( ftsZ1, ftsZ2 ), DNA replication and partitioning ( sepF and smc ) and several genes involved in metabolism (Darnell et al, 2020; Liao et al, 2021).…”

“…The cell cycle transcriptional regulator CdrS (cell division regulator short) present in the Euryarchaeota phylum, was recently identified and characterized (Darnell et al, 2020; Liao et al, 2021). CdrS harbors an RHH domain that binds to promoters, and activates the transcription, of 18 genes, including four involved in cell division ( ftsZ1, ftsZ2 ), DNA replication and partitioning ( sepF and smc ) and several genes involved in metabolism (Darnell et al, 2020; Liao et al, 2021). While only two cell cycle regulators have been described in the archaea domain (CdrS and aCcr1), it is interesting to note that both contain the RHH structural motif, whereas the majority of the transcriptional factors encoded in archaeal genomes harbor helix-turn-helix (HTH) motifs (Flores-Bautista et al, 2020; Lemmens et al, 2019).…”