Function of DnaA protein, the initiator for chromosomal DNA replication in E. coli]

DnaA protein is an initiator for chromosomal DNA replication in E. coli. We have examined the function of the protein to answer the following four questions; 1. How DnaA protein is inactivated after DNA replication for the suppression of re-initiation? 2. How DnaA protein is activated for the initiation of DNA replication? 3. Does DnaA protein have functions other than that for DNA replication? 4. Is DnaA protein is a good target for new antibiotics? In this review, I summarize our recent studies for these questions.