Comparative and functional genomic analysis of foreign DNA defense mechanisms in <i>Enterococcus faecium</i>.

ABSTRACT: Enterococcus faecium is notoriously difficult to study genetically due to the poor understanding of barriers preventing foreign DNA uptake, such as the proteins that modify type I restriction modification (RM) system activity. Here, we compared E. faecium repertoires of the HsdS specificity subunit (dictating the DNA motif that is adenine methylated) from type I RM systems among 805 globally reported E. faecium isolates. We showed there were eight distinct HsdS types, with four dominant variants that were also significantly enriched in the hospital-associated clade A1 E. faecium lineage. Adenine methylome analysis of a subset of eight representative E. faecium strains revealed that only two exhibited functional type I RM systems, with the activity corrobo

SUBMITTER: Krause AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12323599 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature