4i98

Publication Abstract from PubMed

Eukaryotic structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC)-kleisin complexes form large, ring-shaped assemblies that promote accurate chromosome segregation. Their asymmetric structural core comprises SMC heterodimers that associate with both ends of a kleisin subunit. However, prokaryotic condensin Smc-ScpAB is composed of symmetric Smc homodimers associated with the kleisin ScpA in a postulated symmetrical manner. Here, we demonstrate that Smc molecules have two distinct binding sites for ScpA. The N terminus of ScpA binds the Smc coiled coil, whereas the C terminus binds the Smc ATPase domain. We show that in Bacillus subtilis cells, an Smc dimer is bridged by a single ScpAB to generate asymmetric tripartite rings analogous to eukaryotic SMC complexes. We define a molecular mechanism that ensures asymmetric assembly, and we conclude that the basic architecture of SMC-kleisin rings evolved before the emergence of eukaryotes.

An asymmetric SMC-kleisin bridge in prokaryotic condensin.,Burmann F, Shin HC, Basquin J, Soh YM, Gimenez-Oya V, Kim YG, Oh BH, Gruber S Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2013 Jan 27;20(3):371-9. doi: 10.1038/nsmb.2488. Epub 2013, Jan 27. PMID:23353789^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.