ArticleMolecular microbiology2021
Single-molecule tracking reveals that the nucleoid-associated protein HU plays a dual role in maintaining proper nucleoid volume through differential interactions with chromosomal DNA.
Article in Molecular microbiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characterizing the Impact of Nucleoid-Associated Proteins on HU-DNA Interactions by Live-Cell Single-Molecule Tracking.Chemphyschem : a European journal of chemical physics and physical chemistry · 2026Article
- Characterizing the Impact of Nucleoid-Associated Proteins on HU-DNA Interactions by Live-Cell Single-Molecule Tracking.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Dps binds and protects DNA in starved Escherichia coli with minimal effect on chromosome accessibility, dynamics, and organization.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Review
- Structural dependence of ProQ-mRNA interactions in live bacterial cells.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Dps binds and protects DNA in starvedbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Metagenomic approaches for studying ubiquitous yet diverse nucleoid associated proteins in microbial communities: challenges and advances.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2025Review
- HU promotes higher order chromosome organization and influences DNA replication rates in Streptococcus pneumoniae.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Relative Distribution of DnaA and DNA inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Stress-induced nucleoid remodeling in Deinococcus radiodurans is associated with major changes in Heat Unstable (HU) protein dynamics.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Bacterial nucleoid is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.Journal of bacteriology · 2024Review
- Differential roles of positive and negative supercoiling in organizing the E. coli genome.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- RNAP Promoter Search and Transcription Kinetics in LiveThe journal of physical chemistry. B · 2023Article
- Non-specific and specific DNA binding modes of bacterial histone, HU, separately regulate distinct physiological processes through different mechanisms.Molecular microbiology · 2023Article
- Enhanced binding of an HU homologue under increased DNA supercoiling preserves chromosome organisation and sustains Streptomyces hyphal growth.Nucleic acids research · 2022Article
- Interaction of Proteins with Inverted Repeats and Cruciform Structures in Nucleic Acids.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Small Prokaryotic DNA-Binding Proteins Protect Genome Integrity throughout the Life Cycle.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Single-Molecule/Cell Analyses Reveal Principles of Genome-Folding Mechanisms in the Three Domains of Life.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Direct visualization of the effect of DNA structure and ionic conditions on HU-DNA interactions.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
HU (Histone-like protein from Escherichia coli strain U93) is the most conserved nucleoid-associated protein in eubacteria, but how it impacts global chromosome organization is poorly understood. Using single-molecule tracking, we demonstrate that HU exhibits nonspecific, weak, and transitory interactions with the chromosomal DNA. These interactions are largely mediated by three conserved, surface-exposed lysine residues (triK), which were previously shown to be responsible for nonspecific binding to DNA. The loss of these weak, transitory interactions in a HUα(triKA) mutant results in an over-condensed and mis-segregated nucleoid. Mutating a conserved proline residue (P63A) in the HUα subunit, deleting the HUβ subunit, or deleting nucleoid-associated naRNAs, each previously implicated in HU's high-affinity binding to kinked or cruciform DNA, leads to less dramatically altered interacting dynamics of HU compared to the HUα(triKA) mutant, but highly expanded nucleoids. Our results suggest HU plays a dual role in maintaining proper nucleoid volume through its differential interactions with chromosomal DNA. On the one hand, HU compacts the nucleoid through specific DNA structure-binding interactions. On the other hand, it decondenses the nucleoid through many nonspecific, weak, and transitory interactions with the bulk chromosome. Such dynamic interactions may contribute to the viscoelastic properties and fluidity of the bacterial nucleoid to facilitate proper chromosome functions.
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