A single 43-bp sopC repeat of plasmid mini-F is sufficient to allow assembly of a functional nucleoprotein partition complex.

Stable maintenance of the low-copy-number mini-F plasmid in Escherichia coli is dependent on a functional partition system. The sop partition region encodes proteins SopA and SopB and a cis-acting element sopC, which contains multiple sites to which SopB binds. We have found that SopB protein acting at sopC in vivo is associated with a marked effect on plasmid DNA supercoiling, which may reflect the formation of a wrapped nucleoprotein complex. In this study, we demonstrate that a functional partition complex can form with a single 43-bp SopB binding site. Our experiments suggest that SopB bound at a single site nucleates the binding of additional SopB protein and wrapping of adjacent DNA sequences, such that approximately equal numbers of supercoils are restrained regardless of the number of tandem sopC repeats present. It is likely that this unusual nucleoprotein complex allows interaction of the plasmid with the partition apparatus.