Abstract
Bacteria, a few μm in length, have the feature to store the genome in a subvolume of the cell without membrane. The bacterial cell cycle relies on a series of essential processes such as DNA replication, transcription and segregation. The mechanisms driving segregation of the genome are still unclear, mainly because the processes overlap in time and take place in the same cellular compartment. The active ParABS partition system is the only type known on chromosomes and is prevalent on low-copy number plasmids,namely the F-plasmid involved in bacterial resistance to antibiotics. ParABS is composed of three components: the proteins ParA and ParB, respectively a molecular motor (ATPase) and a binding protein, and parS, a sequence of specific binding sites. We describe the organization and architecture of the partition complex. Our model is supported by experimental data from ChIP-sequencing (LMGM, Toulouse) and super resolution microscopy techniques (CBS, Montpellier).