CdbA is a DNA-binding protein and c-di-GMP receptor important for nucleoid organization and segregation in Myxococcus xanthus

Dorota Skotnicka, Wieland Steinchen, Dobromir Szadkowski, Ian T. Cadby, Andrew L. Lovering, Gert Bange and Lotte Søgaard-Andersen ()
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Dorota Skotnicka: Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Wieland Steinchen: Center for Synthetic Microbiology
Dobromir Szadkowski: Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology
Ian T. Cadby: University of Birmingham
Andrew L. Lovering: University of Birmingham
Gert Bange: Center for Synthetic Microbiology
Lotte Søgaard-Andersen: Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) is a second messenger that modulates multiple responses to environmental and cellular signals in bacteria. Here we identify CdbA, a DNA-binding protein of the ribbon-helix-helix family that binds c-di-GMP in Myxococcus xanthus. CdbA is essential for viability, and its depletion causes defects in chromosome organization and segregation leading to a block in cell division. The protein binds to the M. xanthus genome at multiple sites, with moderate sequence specificity; however, its depletion causes only modest changes in transcription. The interactions of CdbA with c-di-GMP and DNA appear to be mutually exclusive and residue substitutions in CdbA regions important for c-di-GMP binding abolish binding to both c-di-GMP and DNA, rendering these protein variants non-functional in vivo. We propose that CdbA acts as a nucleoid-associated protein that contributes to chromosome organization and is modulated by c-di-GMP, thus revealing a link between c-di-GMP signaling and chromosome biology.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15628-8

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