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Archaeal chromatin ‘slinkies’ are inherently dynamic complexes with deflected DNA wrapping pathways

View ORCID ProfileSamuel Bowerman, View ORCID ProfileJeff Wereszczynski, View ORCID ProfileKarolin Luger
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.08.416859
Samuel Bowerman
†Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder CO 80309
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Jeff Wereszczynski
‡Department of Physics and Center for the Molecular Study of Condensed Soft Matter, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 60616
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Karolin Luger
†Department of Biochemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder CO 80309
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  • ORCID record for Karolin Luger
  • For correspondence: karolin.luger@colorado.edu
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Abstract

Eukaryotes and many archaea package their DNA with histones. While the four eukaryotic histones wrap ∼147 DNA base pairs into nucleosomes, archaeal histones form “nucleosome-like” complexes that continuously wind between 60 - 500 base pairs of DNA (“archaeasomes”), suggested by crystal contacts and analysis of cellular chromatin. Solution structures of large archaeasomes (>90 DNA base pairs) have never been directly observed. Here, we utilize molecular dynamics simulations, analytical ultracentrifugation, and cryoEM to structurally characterize the solution state of archaeasomes on longer DNA. Simulations reveal dynamics of increased accessibility without disruption of DNA-binding or tetramerization interfaces. Mg2+ concentration influences compaction, and cryoEM densities illustrate that DNA is wrapped in consecutive substates arranged 90° out-of-plane with one another. Without ATP-dependent remodelers, archaea may leverage these inherent dynamics to balance chromatin packing and accessibility.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
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Posted December 09, 2020.
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Archaeal chromatin ‘slinkies’ are inherently dynamic complexes with deflected DNA wrapping pathways
Samuel Bowerman, Jeff Wereszczynski, Karolin Luger
bioRxiv 2020.12.08.416859; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.08.416859
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Archaeal chromatin ‘slinkies’ are inherently dynamic complexes with deflected DNA wrapping pathways
Samuel Bowerman, Jeff Wereszczynski, Karolin Luger
bioRxiv 2020.12.08.416859; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.08.416859

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