Abstract
Patterns of DNA replication and development have been determined in the dimorphic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus using a new method of cell synchrony. Characteristic DNA cycles were identified for the two cell types. The swarmer cell cycle is composed of G 1, S and G 2 periods of 65, 85 and 30 minutes, respectively, and the stalked cell cycle is composed of S and G 2 periods of 90 and 30 minutes. Thus, the two cell types produced at division initiate DNA synthesis at different times: in the stalked cell chromosome replication begins immediately, while in the swarmer cell the onset of replication is delayed for approximately 65 minutes. Since the pre-synthetic gap in DNA replication corresponds to the time required for stalk formation by the swarmer cell, DNA synthesis is characteristic only of the stalked form of C. crescentus. The results suggest that there may be a structural requirement for initiation of DNA replication in these bacteria, and that in the stalked cell this requirement for initiation has been satisfied at division, while in the swarmer cell further development is required.
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