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DNA-Binding Properties of a Novel Crenarchaeal Chromatin-Organizing Protein in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

Authors :
Liesbeth Lemmens
Kun Wang
Ebert Ruykens
Van Tinh Nguyen
Ann-Christin Lindås
Ronnie Willaert
Mohea Couturier
Eveline Peeters
Source :
Biomolecules, Vol 12, Iss 4, p 524 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

In archaeal microorganisms, the compaction and organization of the chromosome into a dynamic but condensed structure is mediated by diverse chromatin-organizing proteins in a lineage-specific manner. While many archaea employ eukaryotic-type histones for nucleoid organization, this is not the case for the crenarchaeal model species Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and related species in Sulfolobales, in which the organization appears to be mostly reliant on the action of small basic DNA-binding proteins. There is still a lack of a full understanding of the involved proteins and their functioning. Here, a combination of in vitro and in vivo methodologies is used to study the DNA-binding properties of Sul12a, an uncharacterized small basic protein conserved in several Sulfolobales species displaying a winged helix–turn–helix structural motif and annotated as a transcription factor. Genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation and target-specific electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrate that Sul12a of S. acidocaldarius interacts with DNA in a non-sequence specific manner, while atomic force microscopy imaging of Sul12a–DNA complexes indicate that the protein induces structural effects on the DNA template. Based on these results, and a contrario to its initial annotation, it can be concluded that Sul12a is a novel chromatin-organizing protein.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2218273X
Volume :
12
Issue :
4
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Biomolecules
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3031dd79a29f426db645bcf0bdc14e77
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12040524