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Coordinated regulation of gene expression by E ... - Jacobs University

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INTRODUCTION<br />

low negative supercoiling) [Menzel et al., 1983] and topA (active at high supercoiling<br />

levels) [Tse-Dinh, 1985] and the requirement <strong>of</strong> ATP for gyrase activity can be<br />

considered as two mechanisms <strong>by</strong> which homeostasis is conferred. Among these two<br />

mechanisms, activity <strong>of</strong> the enzyme as compared to <strong>expression</strong> <strong>of</strong> the enzyme was<br />

shown to be more decisive for homeostatic control <strong>of</strong> supercoiling [Snoep et al., 2002].<br />

The discussed control primarily pertains to <strong>regulation</strong> <strong>of</strong> the unrestrained<br />

supercoiling inside the cell which engages about 50% <strong>of</strong> the total DNA. The other half<br />

is restrained <strong>by</strong> chromatin proteins and RNAP. Most <strong>of</strong> our understanding <strong>of</strong> the<br />

physiology <strong>of</strong> supercoiling comes from modulation <strong>of</strong> activity or mutational studies <strong>of</strong><br />

topoisomerases, which predominantly work with unrestrained fraction <strong>of</strong> the DNA<br />

supercoils. A proper understanding <strong>of</strong> the role <strong>of</strong> supercoiling in global <strong>gene</strong> <strong>expression</strong><br />

requires the understanding <strong>of</strong> mechanisms that determine the partitioning between<br />

constrained and unconstrained supercoils.<br />

1.2.4 Supercoiling and growth transitions<br />

In E.coli different growth phases are characterized <strong>by</strong> different global supercoiling<br />

levels <strong>of</strong> DNA, where<strong>by</strong> the unconstrained supercoiling levels are maintained at a<br />

constant level <strong>by</strong> the topoisomerases during a particular growth phase. The transitions<br />

between growth phases, accompanied <strong>by</strong> changes in metabolism modulate supercoiling<br />

levels to a new equilibrium. Also conspicuous in modulating the supercoiling changes is<br />

the binding <strong>of</strong> abundant chromatin proteins [Balke et al., 1987; Schneider et al., 1997].<br />

Chromatin proteins acting as transcriptional regulators are also implicated in<br />

regulating the transcription <strong>of</strong> topoisomerase <strong>gene</strong>s [Schneider et al., 1999; Gomez-<br />

Eichelmann & Camacho-Carranza, 1995]. Notably, stressful stimuli like osmotic or<br />

temperature shifts in the external environment are also known to elicit rapid changes in<br />

the superhelical density <strong>of</strong> DNA within the cell [Cheung et al., 2003; Tse-Dinh et al.,<br />

1997].<br />

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