Unfolding of the bacterial nucleoid both in vivo and in vitro as a result of exposure to camphor.

Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells are sensitive to killing by camphor; however, the mechanism by which camphor kills has not been elucidated. We report here that camphor unfolds the nucleoid of Escherichia coli and that unfolding does not require DNA replication, translation, or cell division. We show that exposure of isolated nucleoids to camphor results in unfolding of the chromosome.