Background: In low-copy-number plasmids, the partitioning loci (par) act to ensure proper plasmid segregation and copy number maintenance in the daughter cells. In many bacterial species, par gene homologues are encoded on the chromosome, but their function is much less understood. In the two-replicon, polyploid genome of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus, both the chromosome and the megaplasmid encode par gene homologues (parABc and parABm, respectively). The mode of partitioning of the two replicons and the role of the two Par systems in the replication, segregation and maintenance of the genome copies are completely unknown in this organism.
Results: We generated a series of chromosomal and megaplasmid par mutants and sGFP reporter strains and analyzed them with respect to DNA segregation defects, genome copy number and replication origin localization. We show that the two ParB proteins specifically bind their cognate centromere-like sequences parS, and that both ParB-parS complexes localize at the cell poles. Deletion of the chromosomal parAB genes did not apparently affect the cell growth, the frequency of cells with aberrant nucleoids, or the chromosome and megaplasmid replication. In contrast, deletion of the megaplasmid parAB operon or of the parB gene was not possible, indicating essentiality of the megaplasmid-encoded Par system. A mutant expressing lower amounts of ParABm showed growth defects, a high frequency of cells with irregular nucleoids and a loss of a large portion of the megaplasmid. The truncated megaplasmid could not be partitioned appropriately, as interlinked megaplasmid molecules (catenenes) could be detected, and the ParBm-parSm complexes in this mutant lost their polar localization.
Conclusions: We show that in T. thermophilus the chromosomal par locus is not required for either the chromosomal or megaplasmid bulk DNA replication and segregation. In contrast, the megaplasmid Par system of T. thermophilus is needed for the proper replication and segregation of the megaplasmid, and is essential for its maintenance. The two Par sets in T. thermophilus appear to function in a replicon-specific manner. To our knowledge, this is the first analysis of Par systems in a polyploid bacterium.