Assaying the presence of histone-like protein HU in Halobacillus karajensis.

Histone-Like Proteins (HLPs) in bacteria are small basic proteins that contribute to the control of gene expression, recombination, DNA replication and compressing the bacterial DNA in the nucleoid. Among the HLPs, HU protein as a dimer plays an important role in binding to DNA and bending it. In this study, we showed that a 9.5-10 kDa protein with the same electrophoretic mobility as HU exists in Halobacillus karajensis which is a novel gram positive moderate halophile bacterium that was recently isolated from surface saline soil of the Karaj Region, Iran. The genes encoding HU protein were also assayed during this study by Polymerase Chain Reaction.