ArticlePLoS genetics2020
DNA supercoiling differences in bacteria result from disparate DNA gyrase activation by polyamines.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- The bacterial RNA polymerase-associated CarD protein couples promoter activity to DNA supercoiling.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Divergent and overlapping roles of homospermidine and spermidine inMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- Amino acid decarboxylation preservesmBio · 2026Article
- Article
- Alternative nucleic acid structures in microbial biology: regulatory functions and antimicrobial opportunities.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Article
- Article
- Polyphosphate: The "Dark Matter" of Bacterial Chromatin Structure.Molecular microbiology · 2025Review
- Distribution and diversity of classical deacylases in bacteria.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Macromolecular crowding potently stimulates DNA supercoiling activity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA gyrase.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2023Article
- The distinct transcriptome of virulence-associated phylogenetic group B2Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Advancing evolution: Bacteria break down gene silencer to express horizontally acquired genes.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2023Article
- The Biosynthesis and Functions of Polyamines in the Interaction of Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria with Plants.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Polyamines and linear DNA mediate bacterial threat assessment of bacteriophage infection.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Cation Homeostasis: Coordinate Regulation of Polyamine and Magnesium Levels in Salmonella.mBio · 2023Article
- The regulation of DNA supercoiling across evolution.Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society · 2021Review
- Bacterial transcription during growth arrest.Transcription · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
DNA supercoiling is essential for all living cells because it controls all processes involving DNA. In bacteria, global DNA supercoiling results from the opposing activities of topoisomerase I, which relaxes DNA, and DNA gyrase, which compacts DNA. These enzymes are widely conserved, sharing >91% amino acid identity between the closely related species Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Why, then, do E. coli and Salmonella exhibit different DNA supercoiling when experiencing the same conditions? We now report that this surprising difference reflects disparate activation of their DNA gyrases by the polyamine spermidine and its precursor putrescine. In vitro, Salmonella DNA gyrase activity was sensitive to changes in putrescine concentration within the physiological range, whereas activity of the E. coli enzyme was not. In vivo, putrescine activated the Salmonella DNA gyrase and spermidine the E. coli enzyme. High extracellular Mg2+ decreased DNA supercoiling exclusively in Salmonella by reducing the putrescine concentration. Our results establish the basis for the differences in global DNA supercoiling between E. coli and Salmonella, define a signal transduction pathway regulating DNA supercoiling, and identify potential targets for antibacterial agents.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.