Question

Bacterial chromosomes are compacted by the formation of _________ that form loops of 10,000 base pairs emanating from a core.

Answer 1

Bacterial chromosomes are compacted through looped domains that form loops around Hu proteins, enabling the lengthy DNA to fit within the tiny bacterial cell, alongside plasmids.

Step-by-step explanation:

Bacterial chromosomes are compacted by the formation of looped domains that form loops of 10,000 base pairs emanating from a core. The circular chromosome is folded and packed within nucleon of the cell and is organized in a scaffold-like structure. These looped domains are further coiled around basic proteins, such as Hu proteins, to efficiently fit the bacterial DNA into the small space of the bacterial cell. In E. coli, for instance, the 1.7 mm long DNA is coiled and packed within the 2 micrometres cell. Additionally, aside from the genomic DNA, bacteria may also contain small, circular, supercoiled non-chromosomal DNA called plasmids within the cell.