DnaA is a protein that activates initiation of DNA replication in bacteria. Based on the Replicon Model, a positively active initiator molecule contacts with a particular spot on a circular chromosome called the replicator to start DNA replication. It is a replication initiation factor which promotes the unwinding of DNA at oriC.
The oriC site in E. coli has three AT rich 13 base pair regions (DUEs) followed by four 9 bp regions with the sequence TTAT(C or A)CA(C or A)A. DnaA molecules bind to the 9 bp regions, which wrap around the proteins causing the DNA at the AT-rich region to unwind. There are currently 11 DnaA binding sites identified within oriC, to which DnaA binds with differential affinity. DnaA contains two conserved regions: the first is located in the central part of the protein and corresponds to the ATP-binding domain, the second is located in the C-terminal half and is involved in DNA-binding.
DnaA mutants
The first strains to have the dnaA gene mutated were the temperature-sensitive K-12 strains CRT46 and CRT83, with the corresponding strain numbers beingdnaA46 and dnaA83. In contrary to dnaA mutants, the PC2 strain has a mutation in the dnaC gene, which codes for the loading factor for the DNA helicase dnaB.
Synthesis
DnaA has the ability to bind its own promoter. When DnaA binds to its own promoter it blocks RNA polymerase from binding the promoter and inhibits initiation of transcription. In this way, DnaA is able to regulate its own expression. This process is called autoregulation.
Regulation
Each cell division cycle triggers a new round of chromosome replication with the accumulation of DnaA, the initiator protein, on the OriC region of DNA. It is crucial to regulate DnaA-ATP monomer interactions with oriC during helicase loading and unwinding of origin DNA for precise timing. DnaA recognition sites in Escherichia coli are arranged in OriC to facilitate staged pre-replication complex assembling, with DnaA interacting with low affinity sites as it oligomerizes to fill the gaps between high affinity sites as it oligomerizes. There may be numerous gap-filling strategies to link OriC functions to bacterial lifestyles in nature, which may account for the wide variability of OriC DnaA recognition site patterns. which in turn consists of the Hda protein and the β sliding clamp (DnaN) and datA-dependent DnaA-ATP hydrolysis. The ADP-form is converted to the ATP-form by DnaA-reactivating sequences 1 and 2 (DARS1 and DARS2).
Regulation of DnaA binding to DNA at OriC
Since DNA replication must occur irreversibly and only once per cycle, the binding behavior of DnaA complexes to OriC is a highly regulated, and therefore dependent on many other cellular mechanisms. By contrast, the lower affinity sites are typically only bound to DnaA complexes right before replication begins. Between the R1 and R2 high affinity sites exist the R5M, tau2, I1, and I2 low affinity sites, and C3, C2, 13, and C1 exist between the R2 and R4 sites. OriC binding with active DnaA-ATP complexes at the lower affinity I sites, as well as the tau2, C2, and C3, sites is required for the strand separation process to initiate in a time regulated manner, meaning DnaA-ATP cannot be substituted with inactive DnaA-ADP complexes to initiate replication properly and with sufficient regulation.
IHF plays a key functional role positively regulating the binding of DnaA complexes to the lower affinity OriC sites as the cell prepares for replication, essentially evening the playing field between the high and low affinity OriC sites in terms of their ability to bind with DnaA complexes. Cooperative binding is thought to be a mechanism in which the high-affinity sites supply the lower-affinity sites within their vicinity with DnaA-ATP complexes in the moments leading up to replication initiation. Prior to IHF binding to OriC, a different protein, factor for inversion stimulation (FIS) protein, is bound to DNA for the majority of the cell cycle (with the exception of the events leading up to replication initiation), inhibiting the binding of IHF to DNA. Consequently, the binding of DnaA complexes to the lower affinity OriC sites is also inhibited, thus, preventing the chromosomal replication process from starting prematurely and thereby demonstrating how FIS positively regulates the maintenance of a consistent cell cycle progression via inhibition. DiaA binds to DnaA in its tetrameric form (consisting of four DiaA protomers (individual proteins) bound to one another), specifically to the first domain of DnaA–in the same region where another protein, replicative DNA helicase (DnaB), is presumed to bind with DnaA. DNA's GATC sites within OriC and at the region where the dnaA promoter exists become hemimethylated, and therefore experience a reduced ability to function and express the same way as they would while methylated. As an example, the Enterobacterial proteins have nearly identical N- and C-terminal sequences, however they are characterized by numerous amino acid adjustments, elisions, and insertions in the variable regions. There is an AAA+ family ATPase motif and an independent DNA binding sphere in the C-terminal region. It was determined by NMR that Escherichia coli sphere IV had a crystal-clear structure when complexed with a DnaA- box. As a result, it was confirmed that the DNA list is intermediated by a combination of a helix-turn-helix motif and an introductory circle. When bound to ATP, but not to ADP, DnaA forms a super-helical structure with four monomers per turn. The structure of sphere I has been determined from three additional bacterial species and Escherichia coli by NMR.
Autoregulation of DnaA protein synthesis
thumb|DnaA protein structure
The research on dnaA(Ts) mutants provided the first proof that the dnaA gene is autoregulated. DnaA protein is still produced at non-permissive temperatures where it is inactive, but in some mutants it can be made active again by returning to a temperature that is conducive to development. The study's findings revealed that as growth temperature increased, the DnaA46 protein's activity decreased, leading to progressively decreasing DNA and origin concentrations at intermediate temperatures. An increase in initiation capacity was seen concurrently with a decrease in DnaA protein activity. Hansen and Rasmussen (1977) argued that the DnaA protein had a positive effect in replication initiation aing transcripts entering the dnaA gene were found as a result of sequencing the dnaA promoter region and the dnaA gene. The sequence of the dnaA2p promoter region has some intriguing characteristics that can be seen more clearly. This promoter contains two GATC sites, one in the 10 sequence and the other in the 35 sequence, and both in vivo and in vitro, methylation increases transcription from this promoter by a factor of two. In addition, DnaA protein binds to regions upstream of the dnaA2p promoter with a high affinity.