Sargin, Şevval-Dna Packing

CELL BIOLOGY
”DNA PACKING”
Course Instructor; Esra AYDEMİR

Prepared by Şevval SARGIN
Date; 14.01.2021
BİRUNİ UNIVERSITY, Istanbul
WHAT IS DNA KEY WORDS;
PACKİNG? • In eukaryotic cells, DNA and RNA
synthesis occur in a different
DNA packaging is location than protein synthesis; in
an important prokaryotic cells, both these
process in living processes occur together.
cells. Without it, a • DNA is “supercoiled” in prokaryotic
cell is not able to cells, meaning that the DNA is either
under-wound or over-wound from
accommodate the its normal relaxed state.
large amount of • In eukaryotic cells, DNA is wrapped
DNA that is stored around proteins known as histones
inside. to form structures called
nucleosomes.
KEY TERMS;
• Nucleosomes: The fundamental subunit of chromatin, composed of a little less

than two turns of DNA wrapped around a set of eight proteins called histones.
• Histones: The
chief protein components of chromatin, which act as spools around
which DNA winds.
A eukaryote contains a well-defined nucleus, whereas in prokaryotes the

chromosome lies in the cytoplasm in an area called the . In eukaryotic cells, DNA
and RNA synthesis occur in a separate compartment from protein synthesis. In
prokaryotic cells, both processes occur together. What advantages might there be
to separating the processes? What advantages might there be to having them
occur together?
Figure .1: Eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells: A eukaryote contains a well-
defined nucleus, whereas in prokaryotes, the chromosome lies in the
cytoplasm in an area called the
nucleoid.
PACKING SYSTEM
•The size of the genome in one of the most well-studied prokaryotes, E.coli, is 4.6 million base
pairs (approximately 1.1 mm, if cut and stretched out). So how does this fit inside a small
bacterial cell? The DNA is twisted by what is known as supercoiling. Supercoiling means that
DNA is either under-wound (less than one turn of the helix per 10 base pairs) or over-wound
(more than 1 turn per 10 base pairs) from its normal relaxed state. Some proteins are known to
be involved in the supercoiling; other proteins and enzymes such as DNA gyrase help in
maintaining the supercoiled structure.
•Eukaryotes, whose chromosomes each consist of a linear DNA molecule, employ a different
type of packing strategy to fit their DNA inside the nucleus. At the most basic level, DNA is
wrapped around proteins known as histones to form structures called nucleosomes. The
histones are evolutionarily conserved proteins that are rich in basic amino acids and form an
octamer. The DNA (which is negatively charged because of the phosphate groups) is wrapped
tightly around the histone core. This nucleosome is linked to the next one with the help of a
linker DNA. This is also known as the “beads on a string” structure. This is further compacted
into a 30 nm fiber, which is the diameter of the structure. At the metaphase stage the
chromosomes are at their most compact, approximately 700 nm in width, and are found in
association with scaffold proteins.
Figure.2: Eukaryotic
chromosomes: These figures
illustrate the compaction of the
eukaryotic chromosome.
In interphase, eukaryotic
chromosomes have two distinct
regions that can be distinguished
by staining. The tightly packaged
region is known as
heterochromatin, and the less dense
region is known as euchromatin.
Heterochromatin usually contains
genes that are not expressed, and is
found in the regions of the
centromere and telomeres. The
euchromatin usually contains genes
that are transcribed, with DNA
packaged around nucleosomes but
not further compacted.
REFERENCES
 William B. Coleman,Chapter 6 - Understanding human
disease in the post-genomic era, Editor(s): William B.
Coleman, Gregory J. Tsongalis, Essential Concepts in
Molecular Pathology (Second Edition),Academic Press,
2020,Pages 101-111.
 https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_a
nd_General_Biology/Book
%3A_General_Biology_(Boundless)/3%3A_Biological_
Macromolecules/3.4%3A_Nucleic_Acids/3.4C
%3A_DNA_Packaging

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CELL BIOLOGY

Course Instructor; Esra AYDEMİR

• Nucleosomes: The fundamental subunit of chromatin, composed of a little less

A eukaryote contains a well-defined nucleus, whereas in prokaryotes the

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