Specificity of protein-DNA interactions in hypersaline environment: structural studies on complexes of Halobacterium salinarum oxidative stress-dependent protein hsRosR.
Interactions between proteins and DNA are crucial for all biological systems.
Many studies have shown the dependence of protein-DNA interactions on the
surrounding salt concentration. How these interactions are maintained in the
hypersaline environments that halophiles inhabit remains puzzling. Towards
solving this enigma, we identified the DNA motif recognized by the Halobactrium
salinarum ROS-dependent transcription factor (hsRosR), determined the structure
of several hsRosR-DNA complexes and investigated the DNA-binding process under
extreme high-salt conditions. The picture that emerges from this work
contributes to our understanding of the principles underlying the interplay
between electrostatic interactions and salt-mediated protein-DNA interactions in
an ionic environment characterized by molar salt concentrations.