title: The Bacillus subtilis nucleoid-associated protein HPB12 strongly compacts DNA.
abstract: The HPB12 protein from the nucleoid of Bacillus subtilis was previously described, and its DNA binding properties have been reported previously (V. Salti, F. Le Hégarat, and L. Hirschbein, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1009:161-167, 1989). The DNA-HPB12 complexes were examined by electron microscopy. They appeared as short, slightly curved rods whereas naked DNA showed no compaction. Since only a small number of complexes with an intermediate degree of folding were observed, it appears that the nucleoid-associated protein HPB12 binds cooperatively to DNA, confirming Salti et al. (V. Salti, F. Le Hégarat, and L. Hirschbein, Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1009:161-167, 1989), and gives rise to a tightly compacted DNA-protein complex. N-terminal sequencing of purified HPB12 showed that all but one of the first 26 amino acids were identical to those of the L24 ribosomal protein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arnold-Schulz-Gahmen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Salti-Montesanto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hirschbein
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Le Hégarat
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C085226:HPB12 protein, Bacillus subtilis