Live-cell superresolution microscopy reveals the organization of RNA polymerase in the bacterial nucleoid.

ABSTRACT: Despite the fundamental importance of transcription, a comprehensive analysis of RNA polymerase (RNAP) behavior and its role in the nucleoid organization in vivo is lacking. Here, we used superresolution microscopy to study the localization and dynamics of the transcription machinery and DNA in live bacterial cells, at both the single-molecule and the population level. We used photoactivated single-molecule tracking to discriminate between mobile RNAPs and RNAPs specifically bound to DNA, either on promoters or transcribed genes. Mobile RNAPs can explore the whole nucleoid while searching for promoters, and spend 85% of their search time in nonspecific interactions with DNA. On the other hand, the distribution of specifically bound RNAPs shows that low levels of transcription can occur thr

SUBMITTER: Stracy M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4538611 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature