Polymerase occupancy (ChIP-Seq) in WT and mutants of Caulobacter crescentus NA1000

Coordination of cell cycle progression with central metabolism is fundamental to all cell types and likely underlies differentiation into dispersal cells in bacteria. How central metabolism is monitored to regulate cell cycle functions is poorly understood. A forward genetic selection for cell cycle regulators in the polarized alpha-proteobacterium Caulobacter crescentus unearthed the uncharacterized CitA citrate synthase, a TCA (tricarboxylic acid) cycle enzyme, as unprecedented checkpoint regulator of the G1→S transition. We show that loss of the CitA protein provokes a (p)ppGpp alarmone-dependent G1-phase arrest without apparent metabolic or energy insufficiency. While S-phase entry is still conferred when CitA is rendered catalytically inactive, the paralogous CitB citrate synthase has no overt role other than sustaining TCA cycle activity when CitA is absent. With eukaryotic citrate synthase paralogs known to fulfill regulatory functions, our work extends the moonlighting paradigm to citrate synthase coordinating central (TCA) metabolism with development and perhaps antibiotic tolerance in bacteria. Examination of polymerase whole genome binding/occupancy (ChIP-Seq) in WT Caulobacter crescentus and comparison with ∆citA mutant or a strain producing the (p)ppGpp alarmone. 3 samples were analyzed in monoplicate