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Specific Labeling of Mitochondrial Nucleoids for Time-lapse Structured Illumination Microscopy
Published on: June 4, 2020
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Cell morphology and nucleoid dynamics in dividing Deinococcus radiodurans.
Kevin Floc'h1, Françoise Lacroix1, Pascale Servant2
1Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, IBS, F-38000, Grenoble, France.
Nature Communications
|August 25, 2019
Summary
Spherical bacteria like Deinococcus radiodurans offer new insights into bacterial nucleoid organization. This study reveals dynamic nucleoid structures and cell cycle coupling in cocci.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Bacterial nucleoid knowledge is limited to rod/crescent shapes.
- Deinococcus radiodurans, a spherical bacterium, presents a unique model for cocci nucleoid studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the nucleoid organization and dynamics in Deinococcus radiodurans.
- To understand the relationship between cell cycle progression and nucleoid structure in this organism.
Main Methods:
- Advanced microscopy techniques.
- Single-particle tracking.
- Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP).
Main Results:
- Deinococcus radiodurans exhibits coordinated cell and nucleoid morphological changes during the cell cycle.
- The bacterial nucleoid is highly condensed yet dynamic, with a unique radial distribution of oriC loci around central ter sites.
- Histone-like HU protein's loose DNA binding contributes to nucleoid plasticity.
Conclusions:
- Nucleoid organization in spherical bacteria is complex and cell cycle-dependent.
- Deinococcus radiodurans provides a valuable model for studying bacterial nucleoid structure and dynamics in cocci.
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