Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Dec;17(4):542-8.
doi: 10.2478/s11658-012-0026-3. Epub 2012 Aug 15.

Dynamic instability--a common denominator in prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA segregation and cell division

John A Fuesler  1 , Hsin-Jung Sophia Li
Affiliations
Review

Dynamic instability--a common denominator in prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA segregation and cell division

John A Fuesler et al. Cell Mol Biol Lett. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

Dynamic instability is an essential phenomenon in eukaryotic nuclear division and prokaryotic plasmid R1 segregation. Although the molecular machines used in both systems differ greatly in composition, strong similarities and requisite nuances in dynamics and segregation mechanisms are observed. This brief examination of the current literature provides a functional comparison between prokaryotic and eukaryotic dynamically unstable filaments, specifically ParM and microtubules. Additionally, this mini-review should support the notion that any dynamically unstable filament could serve as the molecular machine driving DNA segregation, but these machines possess auxiliary features to adapt to temporal and spatial disparities in either system.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Howard J., Hyman A.A. Dynamics and mechanics of the microtubule plus end. Nature. 2003;422:753–758. doi: 10.1038/nature01600. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tolic-Norrelykke I.M. Push-me-pull-you: how microtubules organize the cell interior. Eur. Biophys. J. Biophys. Lett. 2008;37:1271–1278. doi: 10.1007/s00249-008-0321-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garner E.C., Campbell C.S., We ibel D.B., Mullins R.D. Reconstitution of DNA segregation driven by assembly of a prokaryotic actin homolog. Science. 2007;315:1270–1274. doi: 10.1126/science.1138527. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Blohm D., Goebel W. Restriction map of the antibiotic resistance plasmid R1drd-19 and its derivatives pKN102 (R1drd-19B2) and R1drd-16 for the enzymes BamHI, HindIII, EcoRI and SalI. Mol. Gen. Genet. 1978;167:119–127. doi: 10.1007/BF00266905. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Erickson H.P. Evolution of the cytoskeleton. Bioessays. 2007;29:668–677. doi: 10.1002/bies.20601. - DOI - PMC - PubMed