Abstract
Bacterial nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) form nucleoprotein complexes and influence the expression of genes. Recent studies have shown that some plasmids carry genes encoding NAP homologs, which play important roles in transcriptional regulation networks between plasmids and host chromosomes. In this study, we determined the distributions of the well-known NAPs Fis, H-NS, HU, IHF, and Lrp and the newly found NAPs MvaT and NdpA among the whole-sequenced 1382 plasmids found in Gram-negative bacteria. Comparisons between NAP distributions and plasmid features (size, G+C content, and putative transferability) were also performed. We found that larger plasmids frequently have NAP gene homologs. Plasmids with H-NS gene homologs had less G+C content. It should be noted that plasmids with the NAP gene homolog also carried the relaxase gene involved in the conjugative transfer of plasmids more frequently than did those without the NAP gene homolog, implying that plasmid-encoded NAP homologs positively contribute to transmissible plasmids.
Highlights
IntroductionThe proteins involved in folding the chromosome are known as nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) [1, 2]
Bacterial chromosomal DNA is folded to form a compacted structure, the nucleoid
The distribution of the 136 plasmids, each of which had one or more genes encoding nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) homologs, is shown in Figure 1(a): none of 415 small plasmids, 34 (5%) of 686 intermediate plasmids, 90 (33%) of 269 large plasmids, and 12 (100%) of 12 mega plasmids carried at least one NAP gene homolog
Summary
The proteins involved in folding the chromosome are known as nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) [1, 2]. Because of their DNA-binding ability, NAPs can play an important role in global gene regulation [1, 2]. Lrp has a global influence on transcription regulation and is involved in microbial virulence [8]. In addition to these well-known NAPs, many other NAPs are found in Enterobacteriaceae and in other organisms.
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