Mycobacterium tuberculosis nucleoid-associated DNA-binding protein H-NS binds with high-affinity to the Holliday junction and inhibits strand exchange promoted by RecA protein

Sharadamma, N. ; Harshavardhana, Y. ; Singh, Pawan ; Muniyappa, K. (2010) Mycobacterium tuberculosis nucleoid-associated DNA-binding protein H-NS binds with high-affinity to the Holliday junction and inhibits strand exchange promoted by RecA protein Nucleic Acids Research, 38 (11). pp. 3555-3569. ISSN 0305-1048

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Official URL: http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/11/3555.f...

Related URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkq064

Abstract

A number of studies have shown that the structure and composition of bacterial nucleoid influences many a processes related to DNA metabolism. The nucleoid-associated proteins modulate not only the DNA conformation but also regulate the DNA metabolic processes such as replication, recombination, repair and transcription. Understanding of how these processes occur in the context of Mycobacterium tuberculosis nucleoid is of considerable medical importance because the nucleoid structure may be constantly remodeled in response to environmental signals and/or growth conditions. Many studies have concluded that Escherichia coli H-NS binds to DNA in a sequence-independent manner, with a preference for A-/T-rich tracts in curved DNA; however, recent studies have identified the existence of medium- and low-affinity binding sites in the vicinity of the curved DNA. Here, we show that the M. tuberculosis H-NS protein binds in a more structure-specific manner to DNA replication and repair intermediates, but displays lower affinity for double-stranded DNA with relatively higher GC content. Notably, M. tuberculosis H-NS was able to bind Holliday junction (HJ), the central recombination intermediate, with substantially higher affinity and inhibited the three-strand exchange promoted by its cognate RecA. Likewise, E. coli H-NS was able to bind the HJ and suppress DNA strand exchange promoted by E. coli RecA, although much less efficiently compared to M. tuberculosis H-NS. Our results provide new insights into a previously unrecognized function of H-NS protein, with implications for blocking the genome integration of horizontally transferred genes by homologous and/or homeologous recombination.

Item Type:Article
Source:Copyright of this article belongs to Oxford University Press.
ID Code:22487
Deposited On:24 Nov 2010 08:31
Last Modified:17 May 2016 06:31

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