Bacterial nucleoid structure and dynamics and its interaction with the membrane

Oleg Krichevsky

Bacterial DNA (nucleoid) is highly compacted. Once the nucleoid is gently removed from bacteria, it expands almost 100-fold and occupies the volume many times that of bacteria. What forces keep the nucleoid in its condensed form inside the bacteria? What are the main features of nucleoid structure and dynamics? How nucleoid interacts with the bacterial membrane?

In collaboration with Prof. Itzhak Fishov, Life Sciences.
 

Figure 1: E. Coli bacteria: the membrane is stained with fluorescent dye	Figure 2: The extracted bacterial nucleoid expands to a volume ~ 30 times that of bacteria.

• Further reading:
  • Krichevsky's Lab: The dynamics of biomolecules and of biological systems with advanced optical techniques