{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T13:46:36Z","timestamp":1791985596865,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791936000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791936000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Microbiol Spectr"],"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Many archaea encode histones in tandem with\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>n<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      ucleoid-\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>a<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      ssociated\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>p<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      roteins (NAPs), but the functional overlap between these two classes of non-specific\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>D<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      NA-\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>b<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      inding\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>p<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      roteins (DBPs) is not well studied. Most\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                      studies of DBPs have been conducted with archaea that only encode histones or NAPs. Here, we characterize the endogenous function of the two families of DBPs in a methanogen,\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Methanosarcina acetivorans<\/jats:italic>\n                      , that encodes a histone and two copies of an archaea-specific NAP called\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>m<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      ethanogen\n                      <jats:bold>\n                        <jats:underline>c<\/jats:underline>\n                      <\/jats:bold>\n                      hromatin Protein 1 (MC1). In\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">M. acetivorans,<\/jats:italic>\n                      we found that each DBP is individually dispensable, but at least one copy of\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">mc1<\/jats:italic>\n                      appears to be essential. By and large, the single- and double-DBP knockouts phenocopy the wild-type strain under optimal laboratory growth conditions. Remarkably, mutants lacking the histone, one copy of MC1, or both recover faster than wild-type after being subjected to UV shock or long periods of growth stasis. Overexpression of the DBPs leads to a delay in growth recovery after extended periods in stationary phase, which is abrogated by introducing point mutations in DNA-binding residues. Together, our data suggest that histones and MC1 proteins have partially overlapping roles in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">M. acetivorans<\/jats:italic>\n                      , one of which might be genome maintenance when growth has stalled or stopped.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        Though it is known that many archaea encode histones in tandem with archaea-specific\n                        <jats:bold>\n                          <jats:underline>n<\/jats:underline>\n                        <\/jats:bold>\n                        ucleoid-\n                        <jats:bold>\n                          <jats:underline>a<\/jats:underline>\n                        <\/jats:bold>\n                        ssociated\n                        <jats:bold>\n                          <jats:underline>p<\/jats:underline>\n                        <\/jats:bold>\n                        roteins (NAPs), the interplay between these two classes of\n                        <jats:bold>\n                          <jats:underline>D<\/jats:underline>\n                        <\/jats:bold>\n                        NA-\n                        <jats:bold>\n                          <jats:underline>b<\/jats:underline>\n                        <\/jats:bold>\n                        inding\n                        <jats:bold>\n                          <jats:underline>p<\/jats:underline>\n                        <\/jats:bold>\n                        roteins (DBPs)\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                        is not known. Most studies on archaeal DBPs have focused either on archaea known to form histone-based chromatin or on strains that lack histones and compact their genomes exclusively with archaea-specific NAPs. Our study, therefore, fills an important gap in the literature by characterizing DBPs in a model methanogen,\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Methanosarcina acetivorans<\/jats:italic>\n                        , which encodes both histones and archaea-specific NAPs. While no DBP is essential, at least one copy of MC1 appears to be needed, likely for genome compaction. In addition, mutants lacking DBPs had a growth advantage after being subjected to stressors or long periods of growth stasis, indicating that DBPs likely function in genome maintenance when growth has stalled or stopped.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.02785-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T13:00:53Z","timestamp":1791982853000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Histones and nucleoid-associated proteins in\n                    <i>Methanosarcina acetivorans<\/i>\n                    mediate recovery from stress and stasis"],"prefix":"10.1128","author":[{"given":"Alienor S.","family":"Baskevitch","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01an7q238","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California","place":["Berkeley, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8390-7251","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Dipti D.","family":"Nayak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01an7q238","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California","place":["Berkeley, USA"]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01an7q238","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California","place":["Berkeley, USA"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/cr.2011.22"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nrmicro2261"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsb.2006.05.006"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/21541264.2021.1973865"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nsb996"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aba8740"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.87.15.5788"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41564-022-01245-2"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mib.2006.08.003"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s007920050053"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1006\/jmbi.2000.4104"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.88.23.10397"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aaj1849"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Dreimann M Rajer F Durieux-Trouilleton Q Behr TS Unger S Yamamoto S Takemata N Atomi H Dodonova SO. 2026. 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