title: Macromolecular crowding and the mandatory condensation of DNA in bacteria.
abstract: Cellular DNA in bacteria is localized into nucleoids enclosed by cytoplasm. The forces which cause condensation of the DNA into nucleoids are poorly understood. We suggest that direct and indirect macromolecular crowding forces from the surrounding cytoplasm are critical factors for nucleoid condensation, and that within a bacterial cell these crowding forces are always present at such high levels that the DNA is maintained in a condensed state. The DNA affected includes not only the preexisting genomic DNA but also DNA that is newly introduced by viral infection, replication or other means.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-0560, USA.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004279:DNA, Viral