Mihnea's lectures Flashcards
the bacterial chromosome is linearly compacted in what fashion?
compacted in an ordered and heirarchical fashion in lockstep with DNA replication
the bacterial chromosome is compacted into a functional 3D form to allow what?
replication, recombination, segregation and transcription
what controls the architecture of the bacterial chromosome?
specialised proteins
is the bacterial chromosome enclosed by a membrane?
nah
the organisation of the bacterial chromosome recapitulates the genetic map - what are some important positions?
oriC (origin of replication) and ter (replication terminus) - these are on opposite poles i.e. pole anchoring proteins
the left and right chromosomal arms
how do the pole-anchoring proteins coordinate replication?
during replication the new DNA moves to its relative position
this means that each daughter cell inherits a full copy of the genome with the same structure
how does chromosome configuration differ?
it differs between bacteria and can also differ based on the growth conditions
what are chromosome interaction domains (CIDs)?
well packaged domains of DNA with lots of DNA-DNA interactions and insulated from flanking regions
boundaries between CIDs are highly expressed genes (HEGs) which are less ordered (hence higher expression cause easier access)
HEGs are usually housekeeping genes
CIDs are around 10-10^2 kbp and ordered into loops by other proteins called NAPs
the number of CIDs differs based on the growth conditions (makes sense cause different conditions requires different genes)
how are e. coli macrodomains kept together?
ter protein (matP) keeps ter in a compacted form by binding matS sites which are exclusively present in the ter macrodomain
matP binds matS site as a dimer and can interact with membranes anchoring the domain in place
what does the isolated nucleoid contain by weight?
80% DNA, 10% RNA, 10% protein
are all bacterial chromsomes circular?
most are
some are linear tho
in eukaryotes, DNA is condensed by histones - how is DNA condensed in bacteria?
DNA is organised in plectonomic supercoils by specific proteins which bend the DNA
different conformations are governed by nuclear-associated proteins (NAPs)
what are structural maintenance of chromosome (SMC) complexes?
have a hinge dimerisation domain and an ATPase head domain (on this domain is kite) and arms extending between these
this allows it to wrap around a loop of DNA and excise it (from the previously highly ordered form) making it accessible for transcription
so the SMC complexes embrace a pair of DNA segments as a single ring and dimerise making that region of DNA accessible
what is histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS)
small polypeptide with AT rich segments which binds the DNA using a c-terminal arginine hook motif
they form head to head and tail to tail interactions to form a long thread of proteins which interact with domains on the DNA
this allows formation of rigid DNA filaments or it can also allow bridging of two DNA filaments
this can also obscure RNAP binding sites and/or transcription activators leading to gene expression
how are H-NS proteins an example of convergent evolution?
they all have an arginine which allows DNA binding and are present in many bacterial species
what proteins allow sharp DNA bending?
HU has an alpha and beta domain allowing formation of homodimers and heterodimers and also a flexible hinge allowing a range of different angles. Very abundant and can allow formation of octamers
IHF causes much tighter 160 degree hairpin bends
what protein allows DNA light bending?
Fis is highly expressed during rapid cell division and is conserved in most gram-negatives
bends DNA by 50-90 degrees (hence light) to form stable nucleoprotein complexes
can regulate transcription
what are some techniques for studying the bacterial chromosome?
Hi-C
fluorescent repressor operator system
chromatin immunoprecipitation
what is Hi-C?
high-throughput method for studying the bacterial chromosome
fixed chromatin undergoes restriction digestion and DNA overhangs filled in with biotin-labelled nucleotides. It then undergoes ligation and labels are removed from unligated ends
then undergoes reverse crosslinking and fragmentation and labeled fragments are enriched
this can then undergo adapter ligation and amplification and then high-throughput sequencing
what is fluorescent repressor operator system?
used to look at specific genes
genes are labelled and then changes can be induced? (e.g. pH, osmolarity, temp.) allowing visualisation of if/if not genes undergo transcription
what is chromatin immunoprecipitation?
fixed chromatin undergoes fragmentation, exonuclease treatment and immunoprecipitation. DNA can then be purified and undergo adapter ligation and amplification followed by high-throughput sequencing
this allows you to see what regions of DNA have been bound and assess the specificity of this
what occurs due to the dsDNA circular molecule being topologically constrained?
theres no rotation of free ends so the genome organises into plectonemic supercoils constrained by NAPs
RNAP induces -/+ supercoiling where overwinding occurs at one end (+) and underwinding at the other (-)
what is the solution for supercoiling?
topoisomerases bind and cut DNA - they cut the plectonemic domains so that just that domain will unwind
type I topoisomerases cut one DNA strand and type II topoisomerases cut two
outline bacterial chromosome segregation?
separation of newly replicated origins
condensation mediated by supercoiling
origin segregation facilitated by a highly conserved partitioning system
bulk chromosome segregation reverses? the orderly compaction of replicated sisters along adjacent DNA segments
condensation is mediated by the concerted action of supercoiling and NAPs and topoisomerases enriched ahead of replication forks and transcription bubbles
transport of replication termini at the division septum
outline how environmental conditions affect DNA organisation?
the chromosome structure changes with environmental conditions
conformational change is induced by ligands e.g. Mg stabilises H-NS helix conformation
temperature increases reduces H-NS oligomerisation and dissociation from DNA
when starving e. coli compacts its DNA to almost crystalline form, NAPs usually present in lower levels in starved cells (cause DNA organised well so dont need as many)
what is transcription?
the process by which DNA is copied into RNA
briefly outline RNA and RNA polymerases in eukaryotes?
we have three types of RNA made by three polymerases
rRNA made by polymerase I
mRNA made by polymerase II
tRNA made by polymerase III
how many RNA polymerases do bacteria have and what structure?
one - it is made of five conserved subunits:
beta prime
beta
alpha I
alpha II
omega
compare the structure of RNApol in eukaryotes and bacteria?
RNAP general architecture and catalytic function is conserved across the three domains of life
eukaryotes have a few extra subunits tho
discuss the structure of bacterial RNAP and how this interacts with dsDNA?
has a crab claw appearance that opens and closes during transcription
core of RNAP is parts of beta and beta prime and the two alpha subunits, and parts of beta subunit form the jaw-lobe
dsDNA goes into the cleft and gets unwound - one strand copied into mRNA and other not read - read strand goes into core where there is Mg2+ ion important for elongation
mRNA exits perpendicular to jaw and dsDNA rewound back into double helix
RNAP has lots of interaction partners
what is the bacterial RNAP holoenzyme?
all the RNAP subunits PLUS sigma factor
what does the sigma factor do?
participates in recognising the promoter of a gene that needs to be transcribed so initiates transcription
what are the three main steps of transcription?
initiation - RNAP binds promoter and makes transcription bubble
elongation - RNAP reads the template strand one base at a time and builds a complementary RNA molecule
termination - terminators at end of gene signal RNA transcript is complete and RNAP is released
what are the elements on the bacterial promoter and what is their position relative to the gene?
UP element (-37 to -58)
-35 element (-35 to -30)
extended -10 element (ext) (-17 to -14)
-10 element (-12 to -7)
the discriminator element (dis) (-6 to -4)
exact positions of each element may vary
where does transcription of the gene start?
+1
what parts of the bacterial promoter are recognised by what parts of the holoenzyme, and what does this position the promoter for?
UP element bound by alpha subunit C terminal domains
this much further upstream from gene so this bit getting recognised by polymerase
then -35, ext -10, -10 and discriminator recognised by sigma factor domains 1, 2, 3 and 4
sigma factor domains binding promoter and complexing with polymerase aligns promoter regions specifically to position the gene for transcription
outline the bacterial transcription cycle?
holoenzyme recognising promoter makes closed complex and dsDNA put in polymerase with help of sigma factor
this is followed open complex where transcription bubble opened in dsDNA - this has to happen in promoter region cause transcription needs to start at +1
then initiating complex where it starts making RNA transcripts and scrunching occurs
when DNA aligns well in catalytic core sigma factor released and elongation begins
now dsDNA being pulled through, read and mRNA released perpendicular to this
then termination
what do the domains of sigma factor do?
3 and 4 domains recognise -35 and ext; position promoter in precise orientation
1 and 2 domains recognise dsr and -10; open the promoter complex
outline the initiation step of bacterial transcription?
sigma factor comes in with dsDNA and puts it in precise position on top of polymerase
binding to the promoter mediated by initiation factor (which i am 90% sure is just sigma factor)
dsDNA melted to unwind strand; one goes to catalytic core and one unread
sigma D1 domain is ejected to allow for bigger loop (from more melting) - begin to make RNA and scrunching occurs; this is the transcribing complex
once sigma released elongation occurs (cant happen while sigma there)
why can initiation factor and elongation factor not be bound at the same time during RNA synthesis?
they bind the same spot on RNAP as initiation factor
what is the name of the initiation factor and the elongation factor in e coli?
initiation factor - sigma 70
elongation factor - NusG
outline the process of elongation during transcription?
DNA-RNA hybrid of 8 to 9bp formed in transcription bubble - the downstream DNA is not yet transcribed and the upstream DNA has regained duplex form
backtracking can occur here? where incorrectly incorporated nucleotides excised
during elongation the rudder loop separates DNA and a series of loops maintains the transcription bubble, with active site located at the floor of the cleft
what are the two ways of terminating bacterial transcription?
intrinsic termination: DNA and RNA sequence sends termination signal to polymerase
other way is using helicase which engages with elongation factors and RNAP during elongation - helicase associates with C-rich RNA sequences expelling RNAP from DNA
why is it useful to know all the stages of bacterial transcription in detail?
it allows us to build more effective and more precise drugs which target components involved in the process
what does the RNAP holoenzyme use to act on DNA?
activators and repressors
is RNAP capable of random transcription with no promoter?
yes
is sigma factor necessary for recognising a promoter?
yes
what are lineage specific inserts?
well bacterial RNAP is highly conserved, different lineages have different inserts interacting with them
what is the RNAP holoenzyme?
RNAP with sigma factor
this recognises the promoter in a closed complex
what part of the promoter is recognised by the core RNAP enzyme itself?
the UP element; is recognised/bound by c-terminus of alpha subunits
rest of promoter elements are recognised by sigma domains
summarise the steps of bacterial transcription from initiation to elongation?
RNAP holoenzyme recognises the promoter in closed complex; covers from ~ -55bp to +15bp
transcription bubble
open complex
RNA synthesis
elongation (sigma not required so fucks off)
what do sigma factors do and can what do they recognise?
also how many are there
lead RNAP to the transcription start site (TSS)
initiate strand separation of dsDNA for the transcription bubble
incapable of recognising DNA alone, only with RNAP
multiple types of sigma factors which are evolutionarily related - some have less than four domains, most minimal one just domain 2 and 4
what is the downside of sigma factors having less domains?
it becomes more difficult to recognise the promoter which has five domains
what is sigma 70?
house keeping factor - responsible for recognising most promoters
each domain recognises specific promoter elements
sigma domain 2 can remain attached to elongating RNAP; continues recognising -10 and -35 like sequences allowing for transcriptional pausing
what is transcriptional pausing caused by sigma 2 domain remaining attached to elongating RNAP?
can bring in other parts of DNA on top of continuous impeding on function of polymerase
this important in some bacteria when u don’t want to express some genes
what is sigma ECF?
extra cytoplasmic function sigma factors; pretty much only used in response to stress or sudden changes which requires fast response - essential for transcribing genes/proteins required for stress
minimal size sigma factor - only domains 2 and 4
a bacteria on average has six sigma ECF
recognised by anti-sigma factors
what are anti-sigma factors and what are they important for?
sigma factors (e.g. sigma ECF) are arrested by anti-sigma factors in conformation where they can’t associate with RNAP
when stress occurs u just drop the anti-sigma factor from sigma ECF and it will become available to recognise promoters important for genes/proteins required to cope with the stress
there are also anti-anti-sigma factors which sequester anti-sigma factors i.e. this is a complex regulatory network
what is sigma factor 54?
recognises -24 and -12 promoter sites on a completely different promoter to sigma 70
small; only recognises two elements thus cannot allow formation of open complex and transcription bubble alone - requires an ATP-dependent activator which is regulated by stress-related signals
activator binds far upstream so in order to make contact with holoenzyme DNA looping is required - once it gets their initiation can start