Bacterial cells require DNA segregation machinery to properly distribute a genome to both daughter cells upon division. The most common system involved in chromosome and plasmid segregation in bacteria is the ParABS system. A core protein of this system – partition protein B (ParB) – regulates chromosome organization and chromosome segregation during the bacterial cell cycle. Over the past decades, research has greatly advanced our knowledge of the ParABS system. However, many intricate details of the mechanism of ParB proteins were only recently uncovered using in vitro single-molecule techniques. These approaches allowed the exploration of ParB proteins in precisely controlled environments, free from the complexities of the cellular milieu. This review covers the early developments of this field but emphasizes recent advances in our knowledge of the mechanistic understanding of ParB proteins as revealed by in vitro single-molecule methods. Furthermore, we provide an outlook on future endeavors in investigating ParB, ParB-like proteins, and their interaction partners.

中文翻译：

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连接点：单分子研究对 ParB 染色体分离的关键见解

细菌细胞需要 DNA 分离机制，以便在分裂时将基因组正确分配给两个子细胞。细菌中涉及染色体和质粒分离的最常见系统是 ParABS 系统。该系统的核心蛋白——分区蛋白 B (ParB)——在细菌细胞周期中调节染色体组织和染色体分离。过去几十年来，研究极大地增进了我们对 ParABS 系统的了解。然而，ParB 蛋白机制的许多复杂细节直到最近才通过体外单分子技术被揭示。这些方法允许在精确控制的环境中探索 ParB 蛋白，不受细胞环境的复杂性影响。这篇综述涵盖了该领域的早期发展，但强调了我们通过体外单分子方法揭示的 ParB 蛋白机制理解方面的最新进展。此外，我们还对 ParB、ParB 样蛋白及其相互作用伙伴的未来研究工作进行了展望。