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Spatial organization of RNA polymerase and its relationship with transcription in Escherichia coli

  1. Author:
    Weng, Xiaoli [ORCID]
    Bohrer, Christopher H
    Bettridge, Kelsey
    Lagda, Arvin Cesar
    Cagliero, Cedric
    Jin, Ding Jun
    Xiao, Jie
  2. Author Address

    Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205., RNA Biology Laboratory, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD 21702., Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205; xiao@jhmi.edu.,
    1. Year: 2019
    2. Date: OCT 1
    3. Epub Date: 2019 09 16
  1. Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    1. 116
    2. 40
    3. Pages: 20115-20123
  2. Type of Article: Article
  3. ISSN: 0027-8424
  1. Abstract:

    Recent studies have shown that RNA polymerase (RNAP) is organized into distinct clusters in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis cells. Spatially organized molecular components in prokaryotic systems imply compartmentalization without the use of membranes, which may offer insights into unique functions and regulations. It has been proposed that the formation of RNAP clusters is driven by active ribosomal RNA (rRNA) transcription and that RNAP clusters function as factories for highly efficient transcription. In this work, we examined these hypotheses by investigating the spatial organization and transcription activity of RNAP in E. coli cells using quantitative superresolution imaging coupled with genetic and biochemical assays. We observed that RNAP formed distinct clusters that were engaged in active rRNA synthesis under a rich medium growth condition. Surprisingly, a large fraction of RNAP clusters persisted in the absence of high rRNA transcription activities or when the housekeeping s70 was sequestered, and was only significantly diminished when all RNA transcription was inhibited globally. In contrast, the cellular distribution of RNAP closely followed the morphology of the underlying nucleoid under all conditions tested irrespective of the corresponding transcription activity, and RNAP redistributed into dispersed, smaller clusters when the supercoiling state of the nucleoid was perturbed. These results suggest that RNAP was organized into active transcription centers under the rich medium growth condition; its spatial arrangement at the cellular level, however, was not dependent on rRNA synthesis activity and was likely organized by the underlying nucleoid.

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External Sources

  1. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903968116
  2. PMID: 31527272
  3. WOS: 000488828000055
  4. PII : 1903968116

Library Notes

  1. Fiscal Year: FY2019-2020
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