XRE Transcription Factors Conserved in Caulobacter and φCbK Modulate Adhesin Development and Phage Production.

ABSTRACT: Upon infection, transcriptional shifts in both a host bacterium and its invading phage determine host and viral fitness. The xenobiotic response element (XRE) family of transcription factors (TFs), which are commonly encoded by bacteria and phages, regulate diverse features of bacterial cell physiology and impact phage infection dynamics. Through a pangenome analysis of Caulobacter species isolated from soil and aquatic ecosystems, we uncovered an apparent radiation of a paralogous XRE TF gene cluster, several of which have established functions in the regulation of holdfast adhesin development and biofilm formation in C. crescentus. We further discovered related XRE TFs across the class Alphaproteobacteria and its phages, including the φCbK Caulophage, suggesting that

SUBMITTER: McLaughlin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10462132 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature