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Single-Cell Biophysics: Measurement, Modulation, and Modeling
Sunday Speaker Abstracts
21
Direct Observation of Transcription in a Living Bacterial Cell
Nam Ki Lee
.
Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
Transcription, a process of mRNA generation by RNA polymerase (RNAP), is highly coupled
with translation by ribosome in bacteria. The effect of the transcription-translation coupling on
the transcriptional dynamics and the localization of genes in a living cell is poorly understood.
Here, we directly observe the dynamics of transcription and the movement of the subcellular
localization of genes actively transcribed by RNAP in living cells at the sub-diffraction limit
resolution. The subcellular localizations of the non-membrane protein’ genes, actively
transcribed by RNAPs, move toward outside nucleoid or to plasma membrane by the effect of
translation by ribosome. The movement of genes by transcription-translation coupling is general
for both E. coli RNAP and T7 RNAP. Importantly, the subcellular movement of the gene is
coupled with the enhancement of the transcription initiation rate, which is to a certain extent
analogous to the chromatin decondensation in eukaryotes. Our observation demonstrates how
two spatially separated processes of transcription and translation are coupled in bacteria and the
movement of genes by the cooperation between transcription and translation plays a crucial role
in the effective expression of genes in E.coli.