Super-resolution imaging of Escherichia coli nucleoids reveals highly structured and asymmetric segregation during fast growth

Bacterial replication and chromosome segregation are highly organized both in space and in time. However, spatial analysis is hampered by the resolution limit of conventional fluorescence microscopy. In this study, we incubate rapidly-growing Escherichia coli with 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), label the resulting EdU-DNA with photoswitchable fluorophores, and image incorporated molecules with an average experimental precision of 13 nm. During the segregation process, nucleoids develop highly-defined and cell-cycle dependent hetero-structures, which contain discrete DNA fibers with diameters far below the diffraction limit. Strikingly, these structures appear temporally shifted between sister chromosomes, an asymmetry which accumulates for ongoing replication rounds. Moreover, nucleoid positioning and expansion along the bacterial length axis fit into an elongation-mediated segregation model in fast growing E. coli cultures. This is supported by close proximity of the nucleoids to the bacterial plasma membrane, the nature of the observed hetero-structures and recently found interactions of membrane-associated proteins with DNA.