Proteasome-mediated protein degradation resets the cell division cycle and triggers ESCRT-III-mediated cytokinesis in an archaeon

Tarrason Risa, Gabriel and Hurtig, Fredrik and Bray, Sian and Hafner, Anne and Harker-Kirschneck, Lena and Faull, Peter and Davis, Colin and Papatziamou, Dimitra and Mutavchiev, Delyan and Fan, Catherine and Meneguello, Leticia and Pulschen, Andre and Dey, Gautam and Culley, Siân and Kilkenny, Mairi and Pellegrini, Luca and de Bruin, Robertus and Henriques, Ricardo and Snijders, Ambrosius and Šarić, Anđela and Lindås, Ann-Christin and Robinson, Nick and Baum, Buzz (2019) Proteasome-mediated protein degradation resets the cell division cycle and triggers ESCRT-III-mediated cytokinesis in an archaeon. Biorxiv.

Abstract

The archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is a relative of eukaryotes known to progress orderly through its cell division cycle despite lacking obvious CDK/cyclin homologues. Here, in exploring the mechanisms underpinning archaeal cell division cycle control, we show that the proteasome of S. acidocaldarius, like its eukaryotic counterpart, regulates the transition from the end of one cell division cycle to the beginning of the next. Further, we identify the archaeal ESCRT-III homologue CdvB as a key target of the proteasome, and show that state-dependent degradation of CdvB triggers archaeal cell division by allowing constriction of a CdvB1:CdvB2 ESCRT-III division ring. These findings suggest an ancient role for proteasome-mediated degradation in resetting the cell division cycle in both archaea and eukaryotes.