Still, the general lack of histones in bacteria is perplexing given that bacteria exchange genes with archaea and eukaryotes– a procedure called horizontal gene transfer– and could have embraced more histones in this way.See “Conserved Chromatin?”Warnecke wasnt the first to look for histone in prokaryotes, but such searches, which tend to use eukaryotic histones as referrals, have actually only yielded a couple of prospective candidates. With this strategy, he discovered over 400 bacterial proteins that contain a signature 3D histone structure called a histone fold, suggesting histones might be scattered across numerous bacterial species.With so numerous prospects to pick from, the scientists homed in on a histone in the species Bdellovirbio bacteriovorus, a bacterium that preys upon other germs.
With the exception of 2 known proteins, germs are typically thought to lack histones, having evolved an independent set of DNA-folding histonelike proteins instead. Still, the general absence of histones in bacteria is puzzling given that germs exchange genes with archaea and eukaryotes– a process called horizontal gene transfer– and could have embraced more histones in this way.See “Conserved Chromatin?”Warnecke wasnt the very first to look for histone in prokaryotes, but such searches, which tend to use eukaryotic histones as referrals, have actually just yielded a few potential candidates. With this method, he found over 400 bacterial proteins that contain a signature 3D histone structure called a histone fold, suggesting histones could be scattered throughout lots of bacterial species.With so lots of candidates to pick from, the scientists homed in on a histone in the types Bdellovirbio bacteriovorus, a germs that preys upon other bacteria. As a small predatory cell, it gets into a victim germs, expands in size, and divides into numerous little predators, continuing the cycle.The group found a histone fold in an uncharacterized B. bacteriovorus protein called Bd0055 and wondered if this protein could help orchestrate DNA packaging.
