Structural basis of H-NS-mediated temperature-dependent stimulation of initial growth in Escherichia coli
- 1Department of Frontier Bioscience, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan.
- 2Research Institute of Micro-Nano Technology, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract
Bacteria rapidly initiate growth when entering warm-blooded hosts to ensure reproductive success. We investigated the temperature-dependent stimulation of the specific growth rate at the onset of the logarithmic phase (defined as μ at ODratio = 0.2) in Escherichia coli. High-frequency automated monitoring revealed that this stimulation peaks near 37°C and is strain-specific. Comparative analysis between MG1655 and W3110 type A identified the Rac prophage as a primary genomic determinant for this acceleration. However, growth stimulation is uniquely dependent on H-NS, which we redefine as a nucleoid structural organizer. Genetic complementation and comparative analysis of nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs), and single-cell nucleoid imaging confirmed that H-NS provides a mandatory physical scaffold specifically at host temperatures. We propose that H-NS undergoes a conformational switch to a parallel dimer form around 37°C, enabling the nucleoid to adopt the highly condensed state required for managing replication-transcription conflicts during rapid growth bursts. Notably, while MG1655 relies primarily on H-NS for this stimulation, W3110 type A requires a distributed network of NAPs, including HU and StpA, to maintain its growth velocity. This effect is environment-specific, becoming particularly significant under minimal media conditions where metabolic and structural coordination requirements are more stringent, but less pronounced in nutrient-rich conditions. These findings resolve the silencing paradox: hns-deficient mutants grow slowly at 37°C because they lack the structural infrastructure required to physically coordinate the rapid onset of growth, regardless of the de-repression of growth-promoting genes. We conclude that H-NS-mediated physical organization of the genome is a fundamental prerequisite for temperature-dependent growth adaptation and successful host colonization.
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BibTeX
@article{yamauchi2026structural,
title = {{Structural basis of H-NS-mediated temperature-dependent stimulation of initial growth in Escherichia coli}},
author = {Erika Yamauchi and Hayato Fujita and Yukari Miyake and Kaneyoshi Yamamoto},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0346655},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346655},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Structural basis of H-NS-mediated temperature-dependent stimulation of initial growth in Escherichia coli
AU - Erika Yamauchi
AU - Hayato Fujita
AU - Yukari Miyake
AU - Kaneyoshi Yamamoto
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0346655
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346655
AB - Bacteria rapidly initiate growth when entering warm-blooded hosts to ensure reproductive success. We investigated the temperature-dependent stimulation of the specific growth rate at the onset of the logarithmic phase (defined as μ at ODratio = 0.2) in Escherichia coli. High-frequency automated monitoring revealed that this stimulation peaks near 37°C and is strain-specific. Comparative analysis between MG1655 and W3110 type A identified the Rac prophage as a primary genomic determinant for this acceleration. However, growth stimulation is uniquely dependent on H-NS, which we redefine as a nucleoid structural organizer. Genetic complementation and comparative analysis of nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs), and single-cell nucleoid imaging confirmed that H-NS provides a mandatory physical scaffold specifically at host temperatures. We propose that H-NS undergoes a conformational switch to a parallel dimer form around 37°C, enabling the nucleoid to adopt the highly condensed state required for managing replication-transcription conflicts during rapid growth bursts. Notably, while MG1655 relies primarily on H-NS for this stimulation, W3110 type A requires a distributed network of NAPs, including HU and StpA, to maintain its growth velocity. This effect is environment-specific, becoming particularly significant under minimal media conditions where metabolic and structural coordination requirements are more stringent, but less pronounced in nutrient-rich conditions. These findings resolve the silencing paradox: hns-deficient mutants grow slowly at 37°C because they lack the structural infrastructure required to physically coordinate the rapid onset of growth, regardless of the de-repression of growth-promoting genes. We conclude that H-NS-mediated physical organization of the genome is a fundamental prerequisite for temperature-dependent growth adaptation and successful host colonization.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -