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Plant MCM proteins: role in DNA replication and beyond

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Abstract

Mini-chromosome maintenance (MCM) proteins form heterohexameric complex (MCM2–7) to serve as licensing factor for DNA replication to make sure that genomic DNA is replicated completely and accurately once during S phase in a single cell cycle. MCMs were initially identified in yeast for their role in plasmid replication or cell cycle progression. Each of six MCM contains highly conserved sequence called “MCM box”, which contains two ATPase consensus Walker A and Walker B motifs. Studies on MCM proteins showed that (a) the replication origins are licensed by stable binding of MCM2–7 to form pre-RC (pre-replicative complex) during G1 phase of the cell cycle, (b) the activation of MCM proteins by CDKs (cyclin-dependent kinases) and DDKs (Dbf4-dependent kinases) and their helicase activity are important for pre-RC to initiate the DNA replication, and (c) the release of MCMs from chromatin renders the origins “unlicensed”. DNA replication licensing in plant is, in general, less characterized. The MCMs have been reported from Arabidopsis, maize, tobacco, pea and rice, where they are found to be highly expressed in dividing tissues such as shoot apex and root tips, localized in nucleus and cytosol and play important role in DNA replication, megagametophyte and embryo development. The identification of six MCM coding genes from pea and Arabidopsis suggest six distinct classes of MCM protein in higher plant, and the conserved function right across the eukaryotes. This overview of MCMs contains an emphasis on MCMs from plants and the novel role of MCM6 in abiotic stress tolerance.

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Abbreviations

CDC6:

Cell division cycle 6

CDT1:

Cdc10-dependent transcript 1

DDKs:

Dbf4-dependent kinases

E2F:

Adenovirus E2 promoter factor

ETG:

E2F target genes

HIF-1:

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1

MCM:

Mini-chromosome maintenance

ORC:

Origin recognition complex

PRL:

PROLIFERA

RBR:

Retinoblastoma-related genes

ROA:

Replication origin activator

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Acknowledgments

Work on DNA replication and plant stress signaling in Tuteja’s Laboratory is supported by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Narendra Tuteja, Hung Quang Dang & Renu Tuteja

  2. Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Ngoc Quang Tran

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  1. Narendra Tuteja
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Tuteja, N., Tran, N.Q., Dang, H.Q. et al. Plant MCM proteins: role in DNA replication and beyond. Plant Mol Biol 77, 537–545 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-011-9836-3

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