Abstract 2074 A multimodal approach reveals bridged H-NS nucleoprotein filaments silence transcription elongation genome-wide in E. coli

Bacterial chromosomes are organized into higher-order, heterogeneous structures by DNA-binding proteins known as bacterial chromatin proteins (BCPs). Unlike eukaryotes, which use histones to form well-ordered chromatin, bacteria use a variety of BCPs to compact their DNA through wrapping, bending, sheathing, bridging, and forming filaments. While nucleosome modifications in eukaryotes are well-known to silence transcription by causing packaging into transcriptionally inactive structures, the mechanisms by which BCPs regulate gene expression in bacteria are less understood.