The Structure of DNA in Anabiotic and Mummified Escherichia coli Cells

Abstract

The structural organization of DNA in stressed (with increased stress resistance), anabiotic, and mummified cells obtained by introducing 4-hexylresorcinol in different concentrations at different stages of cell culture growth is studied using the synchrotron radiation diffraction technique. The experimental studies allow us to conclude that 4-hexylresorcinol is the initiator of the transition of cells into an anabiotic and mummified state in the stationary stage of growth. In the prestationary stage, in the studied concentration range, 4-hexylresorcinol initiates the transition of cells into a mummified state but not into an anabiotic state, which indicates that DNA is unprepared for the crystallization process in these bacteria. The structure of DNA inside a cell in an anabiotic dormant state (the almost complete absence of metabolism) and dormant state (starvation stress) coincide (form nanocrystalline structures). The data indicate the universality of DNA condensation or the universality of DNA protection by the Dps protein in the dormant state, regardless of the type of stress. The mummified state (the complete absence of metabolism, irreversible to life) is very different in structure (has no order within the cell).