Structure and function of bacterial H-NS protein

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David C Grainger¹

¹Institute of Microbiology and Infection, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, U.K.

Biochemical Society Transactions

|December 4, 2016

Abstract:

The histone-like nucleoid structuring (H-NS) protein is a major component of the folded chromosome in Escherichia coli and related bacteria. Functions attributed to H-NS include management of genome evolution, DNA condensation, and transcription. The wide-ranging influence of H-NS is remarkable given the simplicity of the protein, a small peptide, possessing rudimentary determinants for self-association, hetero-oligomerisation and DNA binding. In this review, I will discuss our understanding of H-NS with a focus on these structural elements. In particular, I will consider how these interaction surfaces allow H-NS to exert its different effects.

Keywords:

E. coli H-NS nucleoid

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