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PMID: 2172986 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Superhelical torsion in cellular DNA responds directly to environmental and genetic factors.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ·Vol. 87 ·No. 21 ·1990-11-00 ·Pages 8373-7

McClellan JA, Boublíková P, Palecek E, Lilley DM

Abstract

Superhelical tension of DNA in living bacteria is believed to be partially constrained by interaction with proteins. Yet DNA topology is a significant factor in a number of genetic functions and is apparently affected by both genetic and environmental influences. We have employed a technique that allows us to estimate the level of unconstrained superhelical tension inside the cell. We study the formation of cruciform structures by alternating adenine-thymine sequences in plasmid DNA by in situ chemical probing. This structural transition is driven by superhelical torsion in the DNA and thus reports directly on the level of such tension in the cellular DNA. We observe that the effect of osmotic shock is an elevation of superhelical tension; quantitative comparison with changes in plasmid linking number indicates that the alteration in DNA topology is all unconstrained. We also show that the synthesis of defective topoisomerase leads to increased superhelical tension in plasmid DNA. These experiments demonstrate that the effect of environmental and genetic influences is felt directly at the level of torsional stress in the cellular DNA.

MeSH Terms
Base Composition DNA Topoisomerases, Type I/genetics,metabolism DNA, Superhelical/metabolism Escherichia coli/genetics Mutagenesis Nucleic Acid Conformation Plasmids Restriction Mapping
Chemicals
DNA, Superhelical DNA Topoisomerases, Type I
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
McClellan J A
Department of Biochemistry, The University, Dundee, United Kingdom.
Boublíková P
Palecek E
Lilley D M
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Article Info
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Abbr.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.87.21.8373
Published
1990-11-00
Pages
8373-7
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
7505876
PMCID
PMC54958
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1073/pnas.87.21.8373 PMC Full Text View journal details
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