FUNCTION OF DNAA PROTEIN, THE INITIATOR F OR CHROMOSOMAL DNA-REPLICATION IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI

DnaA protein is an initiator for chromosomal DNA replication in E. col i. We have examined the function of the protein to answer the foollowi ng four questions; (1) How DnaA protein is inactivated after DNA repli cation for the suppression of re-initiation ? (2) How DnaA protein is activated for the initiation of DNA replication ? (3) Does DnaA protei n have functions other than that for DNA replication? (4) Is DnaA prot ein is a good target for new antibiotics? In this review, I summarize our recent studies for these questions.