Topology matters in (active) bacteria

Topology matters in (active) bacteria

DNA is a polymer composed of nucleotides, arranged in a double-helix structure formed by two intertwined strands. This helical structure imposes topological constraints that impact fundamental processes in all living organisms, such as DNA replication and gene expression. As a result, in all cells, specialized enzymes known as topoisomerases modulate the topological properties of DNA, resolving problems related to molecular entanglement and torsional stress.

In this talk, I will present our recent work on extracting quantitative insights into the operational modes and activities of topoisomerases involved in gene transcription, the initial stage of gene expression. The talk aims to be didactic, providing a step-by-step and comprehensive explanation of all the relevant (biological) processes we seek to rationalize. One of the goals is to demonstrate how a physics-based approach, combining reductionist experiments and first-principle biophysical modeling, provides a promising avenue for deciphering the complexity underlying the regulation of gene expression in bacteria.