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Live-Cell Fluorescence Imaging of RecN in Caulobacter crescentus Under DNA Damage

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SMC Complexes

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2004))

Abstract

Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) proteins play a central role in the organization, segregation and maintenance of chromosomes across domains of life. In bacteria, an SMC-family protein, RecN, has been implicated to have important functions in DNA damage repair. Recent studies have suggested that RecN is required to increase chromosome cohesion in response to DNA damage and may also stimulate specific events during recombination-based repair. While biochemical and genetic assays provide insights into mechanism of action of RecN and other repair factors, in vivo understanding of activity and regulation of proteins can be predominantly gained via microscopy-based approaches. Here, we describe a protocol to study the localization of fluorescently tagged RecN to a site-specific double-strand break (DSB) in Caulobacter crescentus. We further outline a method to probe RecN dynamics in cells with a single, nonreplicating chromosome. This technique can be used to study the early steps of recombination-based repair and understand the regulation of protein recruitment to and further association with sites of damage.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Asha Mary Joseph and other members of the AB lab for comments on the manuscript. AB acknowledges funding from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and a Career Development Award from the Human Frontier of Sciences Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, India

    Afroze Chimthanawala & Anjana Badrinarayanan

  2. SASTRA University, Tanjore, India

    Afroze Chimthanawala

Authors
  1. Afroze Chimthanawala
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  2. Anjana Badrinarayanan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anjana Badrinarayanan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, India

    Anjana Badrinarayanan

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Chimthanawala, A., Badrinarayanan, A. (2019). Live-Cell Fluorescence Imaging of RecN in Caulobacter crescentus Under DNA Damage. In: Badrinarayanan, A. (eds) SMC Complexes. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2004. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9520-2_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9520-2_18

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-9519-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-9520-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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