This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (25) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kobayashi, T. Articles by Kuroiwa, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kobayashi, T. Articles by Kuroiwa, T. Agricola Articles by Kobayashi, T. Articles by Kuroiwa, T.

Detection and Localization of a Chloroplast-Encoded HU-Like Protein That Organizes Chloroplast Nucleoids

^a Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
^b Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan
^c Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, Saitama University, Saitama 338, Japan

¹ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail tamaki{at}biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp; fax 81-3-3814-1408

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) is packed into discrete structures called chloroplast nucleoids (cp-nucleoids). The structure of cpDNA is thought to be important for its maintenance and regulation. In bacteria and mitochondria, histone-like proteins (such as HU and Abf2, respectively) are abundant and play important roles in DNA organization. However, a primary structural protein has yet to be found in cp-nucleoids. Here, we identified an abundant DNA binding protein from isolated cp-nucleoids of the primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. The purified protein had sequence homology with the bacterial histone-like protein HU, and it complemented HU-lacking Escherichia coli mutants. The protein, called HC (histone-like protein of chloroplast), was encoded by a single gene (CmhupA) in the C. merolae chloroplast genome. Using immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy, we demonstrated that HC was distributed uniformly throughout the entire cp-nucleoid. The protein was expressed constitutively throughout the cell and the chloroplast division cycle, and it was able to condense DNA. These results indicate that HC, a bacteria-derived histone-like protein, primarily organizes cpDNA into the nucleoid.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Karcher, D. Koster, A. Schadach, A. Klevesath, and R. Bock The Chlamydomonas Chloroplast HLP Protein Is Required for Nucleoid Organization and Genome Maintenance Mol Plant, November 1, 2009; 2(6): 1223 - 1232. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. V. S. R. Ram, R. Naik, M. Ganguli, and S. Habib DNA organization by the apicoplast-targeted bacterial histone-like protein of Plasmodium falciparum Nucleic Acids Res., September 1, 2008; 36(15): 5061 - 5073. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Prikryl, K. P. Watkins, G. Friso, K. J. van Wijk, and A. Barkan A member of the Whirly family is a multifunctional RNA- and DNA-binding protein that is essential for chloroplast biogenesis Nucleic Acids Res., September 1, 2008; 36(16): 5152 - 5165. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Kar, E. J. Choi, F. Guo, E. K. Dimitriadis, S. L. Kotova, and S. Adhya Right-handed DNA Supercoiling by an Octameric Form of Histone-like Protein HU: MODULATION OF CELLULAR TRANSCRIPTION J. Biol. Chem., December 29, 2006; 281(52): 40144 - 40153. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Nishimura, T. Yoshinari, K. Naruse, T. Yamada, K. Sumi, H. Mitani, T. Higashiyama, and T. Kuroiwa Active digestion of sperm mitochondrial DNA in single living sperm revealed by optical tweezers PNAS, January 31, 2006; 103(5): 1382 - 1387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Kar, R. Edgar, and S. Adhya Nucleoid remodeling by an altered HU protein: Reorganization of the transcription program PNAS, November 8, 2005; 102(45): 16397 - 16402. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Nishida, F. Yagisawa, H. Kuroiwa, T. Nagata, and T. Kuroiwa Cell Cycle-regulated, Microtubule-independent Organelle Division in Cyanidioschyzon merolae Mol. Biol. Cell, May 1, 2005; 16(5): 2493 - 2502. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				O. Misumi, M. Matsuzaki, H. Nozaki, S.-y. Miyagishima, T. Mori, K. Nishida, F. Yagisawa, Y. Yoshida, H. Kuroiwa, and T. Kuroiwa Cyanidioschyzon merolae Genome. A Tool for Facilitating Comparable Studies on Organelle Biogenesis in Photosynthetic Eukaryotes Plant Physiology, February 1, 2005; 137(2): 567 - 585. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Amann, L. Lezhneva, G. Wanner, R. G. Herrmann, and J. Meurer ACCUMULATION OF PHOTOSYSTEM ONE1, a Member of a Novel Gene Family, Is Required for Accumulation of [4Fe-4S] Cluster-Containing Chloroplast Complexes and Antenna Proteins PLANT CELL, November 1, 2004; 16(11): 3084 - 3097. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Sasaki, H. Kuroiwa, C. Nishitani, H. Takano, T. Higashiyama, T. Kobayashi, Y. Shirai, A. Sakai, S. Kawano, K. Murakami-Murofushi, et al. Glom Is a Novel Mitochondrial DNA Packaging Protein in Physarum polycephalum and Causes Intense Chromatin Condensation without Suppressing DNA Functions Mol. Biol. Cell, December 1, 2003; 14(12): 4758 - 4769. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Y. Jeong, A. Rose, and I. Meier MFP1 is a thylakoid-associated, nucleoid-binding protein with a coiled-coil structure Nucleic Acids Res., September 1, 2003; 31(17): 5175 - 5185. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]