The environmentally-regulated interplay between local three-dimensional chromatin architecture and gene expression

Rashid, F.Z.M.

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3192230

View statistics

In Collections

This item can be found in the following collections:

Rashid, F.Z.M. (2021)

The environmentally-regulated interplay between local three-dimensional chromatin architecture and gene expression

Doctoral Thesis

Nucleoid associated proteins maintain the architecture of the bacterial chromosome and regulate gene expression, hinting that their role as transcription factors may involve local three-dimensional chromosome re-modelling. This dissertation provides the first evidence to support this hypothesis. Using ensemble RT-qPCR and 3C-qPCR, in addition to in vivo and in vitro single molecule fluorescence microscopy techniques, the interplay between the expression of the H-NS-regulated, osmosensitive proVWX operon of Escherichia coli and structural re-modelling of the operon is shown. The formation of a loop anchored between the P2 promoter of proVWX and the terminus of the operon represses its expression. Destabilization of the loop activates transcription. The model presented in this thesis provides clues for how H-NS and H-NS-like proteins may regulate the expression of other operons and genes within their regulons.

Chromatin architecture