The Bacterial Chromosome is a state-of-the art examination of the mechanisms governing genetic inheritance, a timely update to the 1990 publication of the same name. Advances in evolutionary theory have been stimulated by the availability of complete bacterial sequences, while recent biochemical research has revealed how protein machines control chromosome function. Incorporating section overviews provided by eminent geneticists and biochemists, the book provides a link between classical experiments in chromosome physiology and new developments in genetic research. From the first section, "Genetic and Physical Structure," to the last, "Nonhomologous Recombination," The Bacterial Chromosome comprehensively covers the fundamental systems required for all bacterial cells to replicate chromosomes and organize genetic information. Complex biochemical reactions, including DNA replication, genetic recombination, and RNA transcription, are presented from both genetic and physical perspectives. The implications of the DNA sequence database are incorporated with information on horizontal gene transfer and the impact of phage genes on bacterial genomes.

Section I. Genetic and Physical Structure 1. Overview: Where's the Beef? Looking for Information About Bacterial Chromosomes, John R. Roth 2. The Dynamic Bacterial Genome, Jeffrey G. Lawrence 3. Bacteriophages and the Bacterial Genome, Sherwood Casjens and Roger W. Hendrix 4. Global Approaches to the Bacterial Cell as an Integrated System, Michael T. Laub, Lucy Shapiro, and Harley H. McAdams 5. Major Nucleoid Proteins in the Structure and Function of the Escherichia coli Chromosome, Reid C. Johnson, Lianna M. Johnson, John W. Schmidt, and Jeffrey F. Gardner 6. Domain Behavior and Supercoil Dynamics in Bacterial Chromosomes, N. Patrick Higgins, Shuang Deng, Zhenhua Pang, Richard A. Stein, Keith Champion, and Dipankar Manna 7. Stationary-Phase Chromosomes, Abraham Minsky and Roberto Kolter Section II. Replication Machines 8. Replication Hits 50, Kenneth J. Marians 9. Initiation of Chromosomal Replication, Johanna Eltz and Elliott Crooke 10. DNA Elongation, Manju M. Hingorani and Mike O'Donnell 11. SeqA Protein Binding and the Escherichia coli Replication Fork, Therese Brendler and Stuart Austin 12. Reinitiation of DNA Replication, Kenneth N. Kreuzer and Benedicte Michel 13. The Terminus Region of the Escherichia coli Chromosome, or All's Well That Ends Well, Jean-Michel Louarn, Peter Kuempel, and Francois Cornet Section III. Transcription Machines 14. Overview of Transcription, Jeffrey Roberts 15. The Structure of Bacterial RNA Polymerase, Kati Geszvain and Robert Landick 16. How Transcription Initiation Can Be Regulated in Bacteria, Simon L. Dove and Ann Hochschild 17. Control of Transcription Termination and Antitermination, Irina Artsimovitch 18. mRNA Decay and Processing, Sidney R. Kushner Section IV. Homologous Recombination-Repair Machines 19. Overview of Homologous Recombination and Repair Machines, Andrei Kuzminov and Franklin W. Stahl 20. The RecA Protein, Michael M. Cox 21. Homologous Recombination by the RecBCD and RecF Pathways, Maria Spies and Stephen C. Kowalczykowski 22. Recombination Machinery: Holliday Junction-Resolving Enzymes, Malcolm F. White 23. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: How the MutSLH Repair System Kills the Cell, M. G. Marinus 24. Excision Repair and Bypass, Bernard S. Strauss 25. Misalignment-Mediated Mutations and Genetic Rearrangements at Repetitive DNA Sequences, Susan T. Lovett Section V. Nonhomologous Recombination 26. DNA Transposons: Different Proteins and Mechanisms but Similar Rearrangements, Keith M. Derbyshire and Nigel D. F. Grindley 27. Potential Mechanisms for Linking Phage Mu Transposition with Cell Physiology, Stella H. North and Hiroshi Nakai 28. Chromosome Dimer Resolution, Francois-Xavier Barre and David J. Sherratt 29. Replication of Linear Bacterial Chromosomes: No Longer Going Around in Circles, George Chaconas and Carton W. Chen