Identification, characterization and classification of prokaryotic nucleoid‐associated proteins
Molecular Microbiology, vol. 123, pp. 206–217
Abstract
Common throughout life is the need to compact and organize the genome. Possible mechanisms involved in this process include supercoiling, phase separation, charge neutralization, macromolecular crowding, and nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs). NAPs are special in that they can organize the genome at multiple length scales, and thus are often considered as the architects of the genome. NAPs shape the genome by either bending DNA, wrapping DNA, bridging DNA, or forming nucleoprotein filaments on the DNA. In this mini-review, we discuss recent advancements of unique NAPs with differing architectural properties across the tree of life, including NAPs from bacteria, archaea, and viruses. To help the characterization of NAPs from the ever-increasing number of metagenomes, we recommend a set of cheap and simple in vitro biochemical assays that give unambiguous insights into the architectural properties of NAPs. Finally, we highlight and showcase the usefulness of AlphaFold in the characterization of novel NAPs.
Authors 2
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Samuel Schwab Aachen Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands Centre for Microbial Cell Biology Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research Centre for Microbial Cell Biology
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands
Centre for Microbial Cell Biology Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands
Leiden Institute of Chemistry Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands
Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Centre for Microbial Cell Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Remus Thei Dame corresponding Aachen Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands Centre for Microbial Cell Biology Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research Centre for Microbial Cell Biology
Affiliation as printed
Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands
Centre for Microbial Cell Biology Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands
Leiden Institute of Chemistry Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands
Centre for Interdisciplinary Genome Research, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Centre for Microbial Cell Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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