Bacterial Chromatin

The relative simplicity of the bacterial cell, short generation times and well defined and inexpensive culturing conditions have significantly contributed to our understanding of many complex biological systems. Yet the workings of the bacterial genome, seemingly impossibly compressed within a tiny nucleoid, have remained elusive. How is it that bacteria are able to package their genetic information within the confined space of the nucleoid while at the same time making it accessible for gene expression and DNA replication?