Features of genomic organization in a nucleotide-resolution molecular model of the Escherichia coli chromosome.

ABSTRACT: We describe structural models of the Escherichia coli chromosome in which the positions of all 4.6 million nucleotides of each DNA strand are resolved. Models consistent with two basic chromosomal orientations, differing in their positioning of the origin of replication, have been constructed. In both types of model, the chromosome is partitioned into plectoneme-abundant and plectoneme-free regions, with plectoneme lengths and branching patterns matching experimental distributions, and with spatial distributions of highly-transcribed chromosomal regions matching recent experimental measurements of the distribution of RNA polymerases. Physical analysis of the models indicates that the effective persistence length of the DNA and relative contributions of twist and writhe to the chromosome's

SUBMITTER: Hacker WC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5570083 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature