Genetic and Structural Analysis of the
            <i>Bacteroides</i>
            Conjugative Transposon CTn341

Bacic, Melissa K.; Parker, A C; Stagg, Jessica; Whitley, Helen; Wells, W. Greg; Jacob, Lawrence; Smith, C. Jeffrey

doi:10.1128/jb.187.8.2858-2869.2005

Cited by 41 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Genes encoding VirB4-like and VirD4-like components associated with T4SSs were identified in 13 of the genomes, but other components typically associated with T4SSs were absent. Several of the T4SS genes were associated with known conjugative transposons (62,63), and the others may also be involved in conjugative transfer of DNA. Genes associated with possible T1SSs, T5SSs, and T8SSs were detected in a few species, whereas T6SSs, T7SSs, and chaperone-usher pathway genes were not detected in any.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gliding Motility and Por Secretion System Genes Are Widespread among Members of the Phylum Bacteroidetes

2013

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The phylum Bacteroidetes is large and diverse, with rapid gliding motility and the ability to digest macromolecules associated with many genera and species. Recently, a novel protein secretion system, the Por secretion system (PorSS), was identified in two members of the phylum, the gliding bacterium Flavobacterium johnsoniae and the nonmotile oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis. The components of the PorSS are not similar in sequence to those of other well-studied bacterial secretion systems. The F. johnsoniae PorSS genes are a subset of the gliding motility genes, suggesting a role for the secretion system in motility. The F. johnsoniae PorSS is needed for assembly of the gliding motility apparatus and for secretion of a chitinase, and the P. gingivalis PorSS is involved in secretion of gingipain protease virulence factors. Comparative analysis of 37 genomes of members of the phylum Bacteroidetes revealed the widespread occurrence of gliding motility genes and PorSS genes. Genes associated with other bacterial protein secretion systems were less common. The results suggest that gliding motility is more common than previously reported. Microscopic observations confirmed that organisms previously described as nonmotile, including Croceibacter atlanticus, "Gramella forsetii," Paludibacter propionicigenes, Riemerella anatipestifer, and Robiginitalea biformata, exhibit gliding motility. Three genes (gldA, gldF, and gldG) that encode an apparent ATP-binding cassette transporter required for F. johnsoniae gliding were absent from two related gliding bacteria, suggesting that the transporter may not be central to gliding motility.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gliding Motility and Por Secretion System Genes Are Widespread among Members of the Phylum Bacteroidetes

2013

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“…The regulation pathway involves a repressor related to phage lambda cI repressor. It could also involve a putative regulator related to another type of phage repressors, the "cI-like" repressors.Whereas in silico analyses revealed that numerous genomic islands could be integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) or elements derived from ICEs (2,4,9,13,15,19,25,26), only a few ICEs have been described. ICEs excise by site-specific recombination, transfer through conjugation, and integrate into a replicon of the recipient cell (8).…”

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confidence: 99%

Derepression of Excision of Integrative and Potentially Conjugative Elements from Streptococcus thermophilus by DNA Damage Response: Implication of a cI-Related Repressor

et al. 2007

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A DNA-damaging agent, mitomycin C, derepresses the site-specific excision of two integrative and potentially conjugative elements from Streptococcus thermophilus, ICESt1 and ICESt3. The regulation pathway involves a repressor related to phage lambda cI repressor. It could also involve a putative regulator related to another type of phage repressors, the "cI-like" repressors.Whereas in silico analyses revealed that numerous genomic islands could be integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) or elements derived from ICEs (2,4,9,13,15,19,25,26), only a few ICEs have been described. ICEs excise by site-specific recombination, transfer through conjugation, and integrate into a replicon of the recipient cell (8). Whereas the regulation of the excision of numerous prophages is well known, the regulation of site-specific excision of only a few ICEs, including Tn916, ICEs from Bacteroides, pSAM2, and clc, has been described (6,11,22,23). These few regulation systems are very different from each other. Recently, DNA-damaging agents were found to derepress the excision and transfer of two other ICE types, ICEBs1 from Bacillus subtilis (1) and IncJ elements, including SXT from Vibrio cholerae (3) and SXT-related elements from enterobacteria (18). Such regulation systems are similar to the derepression of the site-specific excision of numerous prophages by DNA damage.Two putative ICEs, ICESt1 and ICESt3, are integrated in the 3Ј end of the fda locus of the lactic acid bacteria Streptococcus thermophilus CNRZ368 and CNRZ385, respectively (Fig. 1A). These ICEs harbor almost identical recombination and conjugation modules (20). The tyrosine integrase and the excisionase encoded by the ICESt1 recombination module catalyze its excision by recombination between the attL and attR flanking sites, leading to an excised circular ICE harboring an attI site and to a chromosomal attB site (10). Furthermore, ICESt1 carries an internal recombination site related to attL, attLЈ (Fig. 1A) (20). Recombination between attLЈ and attR leads to excision of the circular form of a shorter putative ICE, ICESt2, carrying an attIЈsite. A genomic island corresponding to the left part of ICESt1 and flanked by attL and attBЈ sites remains integrated in fda.The closely related regulation modules of ICESt1/ICESt2 and ICESt3 contain three shared open reading frames (ORFs) (arp1, orfQ, and arp2) (Fig. 1B). The ICESt3 recombination module also includes three specific ORFs or pseudogenes (orf385A, orf385B, and ⌬orf385C), and the ICESt1/ICESt2 recombination module contains two specific ORFs (orfP and orfR). The putative regulatory proteins encoded by arp1, arp2, and orf385A have a helix-turn-helix (HTH) DNA binding domain. The functions of the putative proteins encoded by the other ORFs are unknown.The 5Ј part of arp1 encodes an HTH domain, and its 3Ј part encodes a region characteristic of the COG2932 protein family, including the cI repressor of phage (9,20). This region has two functions, cI autoproteolysis and cI oligomerization. In the presence of damaged...

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“…Analysis of the genome sequence of strain W83 (9,26) reveals one potential mediator of horizontal DNA transfer by conjugation, a distant homolog of type IV secretion systems found in other gram-negative bacteria (8). The 12-kb region encodes proteins most similar to those encoded by the DNA transfer regions (tra genes) of the Bacteroides conjugative transposons cTnDot and cTn341 (30% to 75% identity) (3,5).…”

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confidence: 99%

Conjugal Transfer of Chromosomal DNA Contributes to Genetic Variation in the Oral Pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis

et al. 2007

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Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major oral pathogen that contributes to the development of periodontal disease. There is a significant degree of genetic variation among strains of P. gingivalis, and the population structure has been predicted to be panmictic, indicating that horizontal DNA transfer and recombination between strains are likely. The molecular events underlying this genetic exchange are not understood, although a putative type IV secretion system is present in the genome sequence of strain W83, implying that DNA conjugation may be responsible for genetic transfer in these bacteria. In this study, we provide in vitro evidence for the horizontal transfer of DNA using plasmid-and chromosome-based assays. In the plasmid assays, Bacteroides-derived shuttle vectors were tested for transfer from P. gingivalis strains into Escherichia coli. Of the eight strains tested, five were able to transfer DNA into E. coli by a mechanism most consistent with conjugation. Additionally, strains W83 and 33277 tested positive for the transfer of chromosomally integrated antibiotic resistance markers. Ten chimeras resulting from the chromosomal transfer assay were further analyzed by Southern hybridization and were shown to have exchanged DNA fragments of between 1.1 and 5.6 kb, but the overall strain identity remained intact. Chimeras showed phenotypic changes in the ability to accrete into biofilms, implying that DNA transfer events are sufficient to generate measurable changes in complex behaviors. This ability to transfer chromosomal DNA between strains may be an adaptation mechanism in the complex environment of the host oral cavity.

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Genetic and Structural Analysis of the Bacteroides Conjugative Transposon CTn341

Cited by 41 publications

References 48 publications

Gliding Motility and Por Secretion System Genes Are Widespread among Members of the Phylum Bacteroidetes

Gliding Motility and Por Secretion System Genes Are Widespread among Members of the Phylum Bacteroidetes

Derepression of Excision of Integrative and Potentially Conjugative Elements from Streptococcus thermophilus by DNA Damage Response: Implication of a cI-Related Repressor

Conjugal Transfer of Chromosomal DNA Contributes to Genetic Variation in the Oral Pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis

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