Junier Ivan
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
Comput Biol Chem. 2014 Dec;53 Pt A:125-33. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2014.08.017. Epub 2014 Aug 30.
The proper functioning of bacteria is encoded in their genome at multiple levels or scales, each of which is constrained by specific physical forces. At the smallest spatial scales, interatomic forces dictate the folding and function of proteins and nucleic acids. On longer length scales, stochastic forces emerging from the thermal jiggling of proteins and RNAs impose strong constraints on the organization of genes along chromosomes, more particularly in the context of the building of nucleoprotein complexes and the operational mode of regulatory agents. At the cellular level, transcription, replication and cell division activities generate forces that act on both the internal structure and cellular location of chromosomes. The overall result is a complex multi-scale organization of genomes that reflects the evolutionary tinkering of bacteria. The goal of this review is to highlight avenues for deciphering this complexity by focusing on patterns that are conserved among evolutionarily distant bacteria. To this end, I discuss three different organizational scales: the protein structures, the chromosomal organization of genes and the global structure of chromosomes.
细菌的正常功能在其基因组中以多种层次或尺度编码，每一种都受到特定物理力的限制。在最小的空间尺度上，原子间力决定了蛋白质和核酸的折叠与功能。在更长的长度尺度上，蛋白质和RNA热振动产生的随机力对基因沿染色体的组织施加了强大限制，尤其是在核蛋白复合物的构建和调控因子的运作模式方面。在细胞水平上，转录、复制和细胞分裂活动产生作用于染色体内部结构和细胞定位的力。总体结果是基因组呈现出复杂的多尺度组织，这反映了细菌的进化微调。本综述的目的是通过关注在进化上距离遥远的细菌中保守的模式，突出破解这种复杂性的途径。为此，我讨论了三种不同的组织尺度：蛋白质结构、基因的染色体组织和染色体的整体结构。
