A role for the Bacillus subtilis Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (BsSMC) protein in chromosome organization and compaction

All cells must compact their chromosomes in order for the DNA to fit inside the cell or nucleus. In Bacillus subtilis, and other bacteria, replication occurs simultaneously with the organization, compaction and segregation of newly duplicated chromosomal regions. My work indicates that the B. subtilis Structural Maintenance of Chromosomes (BsSMC) protein is involved in compacting and organizing the chromosome. Increasing the amount of supercoiling of DNA is a means to compact the chromosome. This thesis describes a role for BsSMC in supercoiling. I determined that BsSMC can alter the DNA topology of plasmids in vivo. There is also genetic evidence that BsSMC is involved in supercoiling. An smc null mutant is hypersensitive to inhibitors of DNA gyrase, which reduce the level of negative supercoiling in the cell. Conversely, depletion of Topoisomerase I, which increases the amount of negative supercoiling of the chromosome, partially suppresses the phenotype of an smc null mutant. These data are consistent with the model that BsSMC affects chromosome compaction by constraining positive supercoils. Interestingly, SMC-containing complexes in eukaryotes are able to constrain positive supercoils in vitro and affect chromosome architecture suggesting that there is a conserved function for SMC proteins in chromosome structure. I also determined the subcellular localization of BsSMC. I found that BsSMC is a moderately abundant protein that can bind to many regions of the chromosome. A portion of BsSMC localizes in a pattern similar to the replication machinery.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Lindow, Janet C. (Janet Christine), 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alan D. Grossman.

• Biology.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/8385

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/8385