Browsing by Author "Schvartzman, Jorge B"
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Publication The genome of Streptococcus pneumoniae is organized in topology-reacting gene clusters(Oxford University Press, 2010-06) Ferrandiz-Avellano, Maria-Jose; Martin-Galiano, Antonio Javier; Schvartzman, Jorge B; de la Campa, Adela G; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España); Comunidad de Madrid (España); Centro de Investigación Biomedica en Red - CIBERThe transcriptional response of Streptococcus pneumoniae was examined after exposure to the GyrB-inhibitor novobiocin. Topoisomer distributions of an internal plasmid confirmed DNA relaxation and recovery of the native level of supercoiling at low novobiocin concentrations. This was due to the up-regulation of DNA gyrase and the down-regulation of topoisomerases I and IV. In addition, >13% of the genome exhibited relaxation-dependent transcription. The majority of the responsive genes (>68%) fell into 15 physical clusters (14.6-85.6 kb) that underwent coordinated regulation, independently of operon organization. These genomic clusters correlated with AT content and codon composition, showing the chromosome to be organized into topology-reacting gene clusters that respond to DNA supercoiling. In particular, down-regulated clusters were flanked by 11-40 kb AT-rich zones that might have a putative structural function. This is the first case where genes responding to changes in the level of supercoiling in a coordinated manner were found organized as functional clusters. Such an organization revealed DNA supercoiling as a general feature that controls gene expression superimposed on other kinds of more specific regulatory mechanisms.