Condensin mediates the chromosomal clustering of highly transcribed genes in bacteria. Escherichia coli

Purpose: Study MukB, RNAP, TopA, and ParC binding profiles on E.coli chromosome. Methods: We constructed affinity tagged MukB, ParC, and TopA strains, and immunoprecipitated using anti-FLAG antibodies as well as an RNAP primary antibody. Results: MukB, RNAP, TopA, and ParC were all bound to rDNAs on the coding sequences, as well as the coding regions of 244 highly transcribed genes, including tRNAs, genes coding for ribosomal proteins, housekeeping genes (for example, atpA and rpoB), as well as OriC. Conclusions: We found that the bacterial condensin, MukB, is recruited to actively transcribed genes such as rDNA through transcription induced supercoiling. Overall design: E.coli CHIPseq on Illumina HiSeq machine.