Asymmetric division and polar growth define a non-canonical cell cycle in Bradyrhizobium.

Highly asymmetric polar growth in Bradyrhizobium produces a short daughter cell and longer mother cell at each division, with nucleoid compaction and subpolar ParB localization.

• Why it matters: The cell biology of plant-growth-promoting Bradyrhizobia is poorly understood, especially how nucleoid segregation and chromosome organization operate during an unusual, highly asymmetric cell cycle.
• What they did: The study tracked nucleoid segregation dynamics and cell-cycle progression at the cellular level, including nucleoid positioning across growth phases and ParB subpolar localization at the nucleoid periphery.
• The result: Chromosome conformation capture showed global chromosome organization similar to bacteria using conventional binary fission, indicating conserved chromosome organization despite extreme cellular asymmetry.

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