The Escherichia coli chromosome moves to the replisome

Abstract

In Escherichia coli, it is debated whether the two replisomes move independently along the two chromosome arms during replication or if they remain spatially confined. Here, we use high-throughput fluorescence microscopy to simultaneously determine the location and short-time-scale (1 s) movement of the replisome and a chromosomal locus throughout the cell cycle. The assay is performed for several loci. We find that (i) the two replisomes are confined to a region of ~250 nm and ~120 nm along the cell’s long and short axis, respectively, (ii) the chromosomal loci move to and through this region sequentially based on their distance from the origin of replication, and (iii) when a locus is being replicated, its short time-scale movement slows down. This behavior is the same at different growth rates. In conclusion, our data supports a model with DNA moving towards spatially confined replisomes at replication.