Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism, a New Tool to Probe Interactions between Nucleic Acids Involved in the Control of ColE1-Type Plasmid Replication

Hfq is a bacterial master regulator which promotes the pairing of nucleic acids. Due to high molecular weight complexes formed between acids and amyloid form protein, it difficult analyze solely by gel shift assay formed, as they all migrate at same position in gel. In addition, precise kinetics measurements are not possible using assay. Here, we used synchrotron-based biophysical approach, synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD), probe interaction Escherichia coli C-terminal region with involved control ColE1-like plasmid replication. We observed that this has an unexpected significant effect on annealing process and, more importantly, their alignment. Functional consequences newly discovered property discussed terms biological significance ColE1-type replication antibiotic resistance.