Biophysical Society Thematic Meeting| Santa Cruz 2018

Genome Biophysics: Integrating Genomics and Biophysics to Understand Structural and Functional Aspects of Genomes

Friday Speaker Abstracts

Culture-free Microbial Genome Assembly and Tracking in Hospitalized Patients

Ami Bhatt Stanford University, USA

No Abstract

DNA in Tight Spaces: Linking Structure, Stability and Protection in Sperm Chromatin Jason DeRouchey . University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA. Packaged DNA is ubiquitous in nature and the laboratory with examples ranging from chromatin, viruses, sperm cells, bacterial nucleoids, artificial viruses and gene therapy constructs. Sperm nuclei are one of the best examples of in vivo maximum DNA compaction and therefore an ideal model system to study biophysically. Despite intense research, the physical mechanisms underlying tight packaging of DNA remain poorly understood especially at the molecular level. Spermiogenesis is a unique multi-step process resulting ultimately in the replacement of histones by protamines in sperm nuclei to a final volume roughly 1/20th that of a somatic nucleus. The near crystalline organization of DNA in mature sperm is thought crucial for both DNA delivery and the protection of genetic information due to the absence of DNA repair. Using osmotic stress coupled to small-angle X-ray scattering(SAXS) to directly measure intermolecular forces, we have done extensive work to understand how cations modulate DNA- DNA forces in the condensed phase and the interrelationships between cation chemistry, packaging densities and compaction. Recent experiments aimed at understanding the various biological implications for both protamine-DNA packaging and correlations to infertility and oxidative stress in sperm chromatin will also be discussed.

Eukaryotic Genome Evolution in Extreme Environments

Joanna Kelley Washington State University, USA

No Abstract

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