THE BACILLUS-SUBTILIS SOJ-SPOOJ LOCUS IS REQUIRED FOR A CENTROMERE-LIKE FUNCTION INVOLVED IN PRESPORE CHROMOSOME PARTITIONING

During sporulation in Bacillus subtilis a small prespore cell is forme d by an asymmetric cell division. Pre-spore chromosome partitioning oc curs by a specialised mechanism in which septation precedes chromosome movement. We show that the spoOJ gene is needed to specify the orient ation of the chromosome at the time of polar division and to impose di rectionality on the subsequent transport of the remainder of the chrom osome through the septum. Both phenotypes may arise by disruption of a centromere-like apparatus that anchors the oriC region of the prespor e chromosome in the pole of the cell.