Nucleoid

The nucleoid (meaning nucleus-like) is an irregularly shaped region within the prokaryotic cell that contains all or most of the genetic material.[1][2][3] The chromosome of a typical prokaryote is circular, and its length is very large compared to the cell dimensions, so it needs to be compacted in order to fit. In contrast to the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell, it is not surrounded by a nuclear membrane. Instead, the nucleoid forms by condensation and functional arrangement with the help of chromosomal architectural proteins and RNA molecules as well as DNA supercoiling. The length of a genome widely varies (generally at least a few million base pairs) and a cell may contain multiple copies of it.

There is not yet a high-resolution structure known of a bacterial nucleoid, however key features have been researched in Escherichia coli as a model organism. In E. coli, the chromosomal DNA is on average negatively supercoiled and folded into plectonemic loops, which are confined to different physical regions, and rarely diffuse into each other. These loops spatially organize into megabase-sized regions called macrodomains, within which DNA sites frequently interact, but between which interactions are rare. The condensed and spatially organized DNA forms a helical ellipsoid that is radially confined in the cell. The 3D structure of the DNA in the nucleoid appears to vary depending on conditions and is linked to gene expression so that the nucleoid architecture and gene transcription are tightly interdependent, influencing each other reciprocally.

Formation of the Escherichia coli nucleoid A. An illustration of an open conformation of the circular genome of Escherichia coli. Arrows represent bi-directional DNA replication. The genetic position of the origin of bi-directional DNA replication (oriC) and the site of chromosome decatenation (dif) in the replication termination region (ter) are marked. Colors represent specific segments of DNA as discussed in C. B. An illustration of a random coil form adopted by the pure circular DNA of Escherichia coli at thermal equilibrium without supercoils and additional stabilizing factors.[4][5] C. A cartoon of the chromosome of a newly born Escherichia coli cell. The genomic DNA is not only condensed by 1000-fold compared to its pure random coil form but is also spatially organized. oriC and dif are localized in the mid-cell, and specific regions of the DNA indicated by colors in A organize into spatially distinct domains.
  1. ^ Thanbichler M, Wang SC, Shapiro L (October 2005). "The bacterial nucleoid: a highly organized and dynamic structure". Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 96 (3): 506–21. doi:10.1002/jcb.20519. PMID 15988757.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dame-2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kleckner-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bloomfield-1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trun-1998 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).