H-NS can facilitate specific DNA-binding by RNA polymerase in AT-rich gene regulatory regions

Shivani Singh, David Grainger

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)
209 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Extremely AT-rich DNA sequences present a challenging template for specific recognition by RNA polymerase. In bacteria, this is because the promoter −10 hexamer, the major DNA element recognised by RNA polymerase, is itself AT-rich. We show that Histone-like Nucleoid Structuring (H-NS) protein can facilitate correct recognition of a promoter by RNA polymerase in AT-rich gene regulatory regions. Thus, at the Escherichia coli ehxCABD operon, RNA polymerase is unable to distinguish between the promoter −10 element and similar overlapping sequences. This problem is resolved in native nucleoprotein because the overlapping sequences are masked by H-NS. Our work provides mechanistic insight into nucleoprotein structure and its effect on protein-DNA interactions in prokaryotic cells.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere1003589
JournalPLoS Genetics
Volume9
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Jun 2013

Keywords

  • DNA cleavage
  • DNA sequences
  • DNA transcription
  • Gene regulation
  • Immunoprecipitation
  • Primer extension
  • RNA extraction
  • RNA polymerase

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