The genomic DNA of bacteria is highly compacted in a single or a few bodies known as nucleoids. Here, we have isolated Escherichia coli nucleoid by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The sedimentation rates, str...The genomic DNA of bacteria is highly compacted in a single or a few bodies known as nucleoids. Here, we have isolated Escherichia coli nucleoid by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The sedimentation rates, structures as well as pro- tein/DNA composition of isolated nucleoids were then compared under various growth phases. The nucleoid structures were found to undergo changes during the cell growth; i. e., the nucleoid structure in the stationary phase was more tightly com- pacted than that in the exponential phase. In addition to factor for inversion stimulation （Fis）, histone-like nucleoid structuring protein （H-NS）, heat-unstable nucleoid protein （HU） and integration host factor （IHF） here we have identified, three new can- didates of E. coli nucleoid, namely DNA-binding protein from starved cells （Dps）, host factor for phage QJ3 （Hfq） and sup- pressor of taC phenotype A （StpA）. Our results reveal that the major components of exponential phase nucleoid are Fis, HU, H-NS, StpA and Hfq, while Dps occupies more than half of the stationary phase nucleoid. It has been known for a while that Dps is the main nucleoid-associated protein at stationary phase. From these results and the prevailing information, we propose a model for growth phase dependent changes in the structure and protein composition of nucleoid in E. coli.展开更多
基金supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education,Science and Culture of Japan,and Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology of Japan Science and Technology Corporation
文摘The genomic DNA of bacteria is highly compacted in a single or a few bodies known as nucleoids. Here, we have isolated Escherichia coli nucleoid by sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The sedimentation rates, structures as well as pro- tein/DNA composition of isolated nucleoids were then compared under various growth phases. The nucleoid structures were found to undergo changes during the cell growth; i. e., the nucleoid structure in the stationary phase was more tightly com- pacted than that in the exponential phase. In addition to factor for inversion stimulation （Fis）, histone-like nucleoid structuring protein （H-NS）, heat-unstable nucleoid protein （HU） and integration host factor （IHF） here we have identified, three new can- didates of E. coli nucleoid, namely DNA-binding protein from starved cells （Dps）, host factor for phage QJ3 （Hfq） and sup- pressor of taC phenotype A （StpA）. Our results reveal that the major components of exponential phase nucleoid are Fis, HU, H-NS, StpA and Hfq, while Dps occupies more than half of the stationary phase nucleoid. It has been known for a while that Dps is the main nucleoid-associated protein at stationary phase. From these results and the prevailing information, we propose a model for growth phase dependent changes in the structure and protein composition of nucleoid in E. coli.
