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PreprintCited by 4Bacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyGenomics and Chromatin DynamicsMicrotubule and mitosis dynamics

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DNA/polysome phase separation and cell width confinement couple nucleoid segregation to cell growth in Escherichia coli

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Papagiannakis, Alexandros, Yu, Qiwei, Govers, Sander K, Lin, Wei-Hsiang, Wingreen, Ned S, Jacobs-Wagner, Christine·2025·eLife
DOI 10.7554/elife.104276.1
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Abstract

Abstract Chromosome segregation is essential for cellular proliferation. Unlike eukaryotes, bacteria lack cytoskeleton-based machinery to segregate their chromosomal DNA (nucleoid). The bacterial ParABS system segregates the duplicated chromosomal regions near the origin of replication. However, this function does not explain how bacterial cells partition the rest (bulk) of the chromosomal material. Furthermore, some bacteria, including Escherichia coli, lack a ParABS system. Yet, E. coli faithfully segregates nucleoids across various growth rates. Here, we provide theoretical and experimental evidence that polysome production during chromosomal gene expression helps compact, split, segregate, and position nucleoids in E. coli through phase separation, inherently coupling these processes to biomass growth across nutritional conditions. Halting polysome formation immediately stops sister nucleoid migration while ensuing polysome depletion gradually reverses nucleoid segregation. Redirecting gene expression away from the chromosome and toward plasmids arrests nucleoid segregation and causes ectopic polysome accumulations that drive aberrant nucleoid dynamics. Cell width perturbations show that radial confinement of polysomes and nucleoids spatially controls their phase separation to ensure that nucleoids split along the cell width and segregate along the cell length. Our findings suggest a built-in mechanism for coupling chromosome segregation to cell growth and highlight the importance of cell width regulation in nucleoid segregation.

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Metadata

Authors
Papagiannakis, A., Yu, Q., Govers, S. K., Lin, W.-H., Wingreen, N. S., & Jacobs-Wagner, C.
Affiliations
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • Princeton University (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University
ORCID
Venue
eLife
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Published
2025-02-03
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.7554/elife.104276.1
OpenAlex
W4407099659
Cited by
4
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
eLife (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
  • National Institutes of Health (R01 GM082938)
  • Dutch Research Council (Rubicon Science 2018-1 019.181EN.018)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
Keywords
nucleoid segregation, chromosome segregation, phase separation, polysomes, cell width, Escherichia coli, cell growth, gene expression, plasmids, radial confinement

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: DNA/polysome phase separation and cell width confinement couple nucleoid segregation to cell growth in Escherichia coli. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.7554/elife.104276.1
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Papagiannakis, A., Yu, Q., Govers, S. K., Lin, W.-H., Wingreen, N. S., & Jacobs-Wagner, C. (2025). DNA/polysome phase separation and cell width confinement couple nucleoid segregation to cell growth in Escherichia coli. eLife. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.104276.1