title: Bacillus subtilis LrpC is a sequence-independent DNA-binding and DNA-bending protein which bridges DNA.
abstract: Genetic evidence suggests that the Bacillus subtilis lrpC gene product participates in cell growth and sporulation. The purified LrpC protein, which has a predicted molecular mass of 16.4 kDa, is a tetramer in solution. LrpC binds with higher affinity ( K (app) approximately 80 nM) to intrinsically curved DNA than to non-curved DNA ( K (app) approximately 700 nM). DNase I footprinting and the supercoiling of relaxed circular plasmid DNA in the presence of topoisomerase I revealed that LrpC induces DNA bending and constrains DNA supercoils in vitro. The LrpC protein cooperatively increases DNA binding of the bona fide DNA-binding and DNA-bending protein Hbsu. LrpC forms inter- and intramolecular bridges on linear and supercoiled DNA molecules, resulting in a large network and DNA compactation. Collectively, these findings suggest that LrpC is an architectural protein and that its activities could provide a means to modulate DNA transactions.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biotecnología Microbiana, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, CSIC, Campus Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tapias
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ayora
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D019426:Integrases; D051756:Leucine-Responsive Regulatory Protein; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D045522:Recombinases; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C075779:Hbsu protein, bacteria; D045522:Recombinases; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051756:Leucine-Responsive Regulatory Protein; D004254:DNA Nucleotidyltransferases; D019426:Integrases; C115006:integron integrase IntI1