The proteasome controls ESCRT-III-mediated cell division in an archaeon

GT Risa and F Hurtig and S Bray and AE Hafner and L Harker-Kirschneck and P Faull and C Davis and D Papatziamou and DR Mutavchiev and C Fan and L Meneguello and AA Pulschen and G Dey and S Culley and M Kilkenny and DP Souza and L Pellegrini and RAM de Bruin and R Henriques and AP Snijders and A Saric and AC Lindas and NP Robinson and B Baum, SCIENCE, 369, 642-+ (2020).

DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz2532

Sulfolobus acidocaldarius is the closest experimentally tractable archaeal relative of eukaryotes and, despite lacking obvious cyclin- dependent kinase and cyclin homologs, has an ordered eukaryote-like cell cycle with distinct phases of DNA replication and division. Here, in exploring the mechanism of cell division in S. acidocaldarius, we identify a role for the archaeal proteasome in regulating the transition from the end of one cell cycle to the beginning of the next. Further, we identify the archaeal ESCRT-III homolog, CdvB, as a key target of the proteasome and show that its degradation triggers division by allowing constriction of the CdvB1:CdvB2 ESCRT-III division ring. These findings offer a minimal mechanism for ESCRT-III-mediated membrane remodeling and point to a conserved role for the proteasome in eukaryotic and archaeal cell cycle control.

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