Dependence of DNA looping on Escherichia coli culture density

Repression of a promoter by entrapment within a tightly bent DNA loop is a common mechanism of gene regulation in bacteria. Besides the mechanical properties of the looped DNA and affinity of the protein that anchors the loop, cellular energetics and DNA negative supercoiling are likely factors determining the stability of the repression loop. E. coli cells undergo numerous highly regulated and dynamic transitions as resources are depleted during bacterial growth. We hypothesized that the probability of DNA looping depends on the growth status of the E. coli culture. We utilized a well-characterized repression loop model assembled from elements of the lac operon to measure loop length-dependent repression at three different culture densities. Remarkably, even with changes in supercoiling, there exists a dynamic compensation in which the contribution of DNA looping to gene repression remains essentially constant.