Polymorphic protective Dps–DNA co-crystals by cryo electron tomography and small angle X-Ray scattering

Abstract

Rapid increase of intracellular synthesis of specific histone-like Dps protein that binds DNA to protect the genome against deleterious factors leads to in cellulo crystallization—one of the most curious processes in the area of life science at the moment. However, the actual structure of the Dps–DNA co-crystals remained uncertain in the details for more than two decades. Cryo-electron tomography and small-angle X-ray scattering revealed polymorphous modifications of the co-crystals depending on the buffer parameters. Two different types of the Dps–DNA co-crystals are formed in vitro: triclinic and cubic. Three-dimensional reconstruction revealed DNA and Dps molecules in cubic co-crystals, and the unit cell parameters of cubic lattice were determined consistently by both methods.