Project description:We screened Salmonella and Escherichia coli isolates, collected 2004-2008 in the United Kingdom, for 16S rRNA methyltransferases. rmtC was identified in S. enterica serovar Virchow isolates from clinical samples and food. All isolates were clonally related and bore the rmtC gene on the bacterial chromosome. Surveillance for and research on these resistance determinants are essential.
Project description:We investigated 16S rRNA methyltransferases in 38 blaNDM-1-positive Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates and found RmtC in 3 isolates, 1 of which also harbored RmtF. The isolates were clonally unrelated; rmtC and rmtF genes were located on a chromosome with the blaNDM-1 gene. Strategies are needed to limit the spread of such isolates.
Project description:A newly identified 16S rRNA methyltransferase gene, rmtC, was accompanied by an ISEcp1 element at its 5' end. This ISEcp1 element, which contained a transposase gene, tnpA, provided a promoter activity for expression of the adjacent rmtC; and this structure enabled the rmtC gene to be transposed onto another plasmid in Escherichia coli.
Project description:Acquired ribosomal RNA (rRNA) methylation has emerged as a significant mechanism of aminoglycoside resistance in pathogenic bacterial infections. Modification of a single nucleotide in the ribosome decoding center by the aminoglycoside-resistance 16S rRNA (m 7 G1405) methyltransferases effectively blocks the action of all 4,6-deoxystreptamine ring-containing aminoglycosides, including the latest generation of drugs. To define the molecular basis of 30S subunit recognition and G1405 modification by these enzymes, we used a S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) analog to trap the complex in a post-catalytic state to enable determination of an overall 3.0 Ã… cryo-electron microscopy structure of the m 7 G1405 methyltransferase RmtC bound to the mature Escherichia coli 30S ribosomal subunit. This structure, together with functional analyses of RmtC variants, identifies the RmtC N-terminal domain as critical for recognition and docking of the enzyme on a conserved 16S rRNA tertiary surface adjacent to G1405 in 16S rRNA helix 44 (h44). To access the G1405 N7 position for modification, a collection of residues across one surface of RmtC, including a loop that undergoes a disorder to order transition upon 30S subunit binding, induces significant distortion of h44. This distortion flips G1405 into the enzyme active site where it is positioned for modification by two almost universally conserved RmtC residues. These studies expand our understanding of ribosome recognition by rRNA modification enzymes and present a more complete structural basis for future development of strategies to inhibit m 7 G1405 modification to re-sensitize bacterial pathogens to aminoglycosides.
Project description:Acquired ribosomal RNA (rRNA) methylation has emerged as a significant mechanism of aminoglycoside resistance in pathogenic bacterial infections. Modification of a single nucleotide in the ribosome decoding center by the aminoglycoside-resistance 16S rRNA (m7G1405) methyltransferases effectively blocks the action of all 4,6-deoxystreptamine ring-containing aminoglycosides, including the latest generation of drugs. To define the molecular basis of 30S subunit recognition and G1405 modification by these enzymes, we used a S-adenosyl-L-methionine analog to trap the complex in a postcatalytic state to enable determination of a global 3.0 Å cryo-electron microscopy structure of the m7G1405 methyltransferase RmtC bound to the mature Escherichia coli 30S ribosomal subunit. This structure, together with functional analyses of RmtC variants, identifies the RmtC N-terminal domain as critical for recognition and docking of the enzyme on a conserved 16S rRNA tertiary surface adjacent to G1405 in 16S rRNA helix 44 (h44). To access the G1405 N7 position for modification, a collection of residues across one surface of RmtC, including a loop that undergoes a disorder-to order transition upon 30S subunit binding, induces significant distortion of h44. This distortion flips G1405 into the enzyme active site where it is positioned for modification by two almost universally conserved RmtC residues. These studies expand our understanding of ribosome recognition by rRNA modification enzymes and present a more complete structural basis for future development of strategies to inhibit m7G1405 modification to resensitize bacterial pathogens to aminoglycosides.
Project description:Cells devote a significant effort toward the production of multiple modified nucleotides in rRNAs, which fine tune the ribosome function. Here, we report that two methyltransferases, RsmB and RsmF, are responsible for all four 5-methylcytidine (m(5)C) modifications in 16S rRNA of Thermus thermophilus. Like Escherichia coli RsmB, T. thermophilus RsmB produces m(5)C967. In contrast to E. coli RsmF, which introduces a single m(5)C1407 modification, T. thermophilus RsmF modifies three positions, generating m(5)C1400 and m(5)C1404 in addition to m(5)C1407. These three residues are clustered near the decoding site of the ribosome, but are situated in distinct structural contexts, suggesting a requirement for flexibility in the RsmF active site that is absent from the E. coli enzyme. Two of these residues, C1400 and C1404, are sufficiently buried in the mature ribosome structure so as to require extensive unfolding of the rRNA to be accessible to RsmF. In vitro, T. thermophilus RsmF methylates C1400, C1404, and C1407 in a 30S subunit substrate, but only C1400 and C1404 when naked 16S rRNA is the substrate. The multispecificity of T. thermophilus RsmF is potentially explained by three crystal structures of the enzyme in a complex with cofactor S-adenosyl-methionine at up to 1.3 A resolution. In addition to confirming the overall structural similarity to E. coli RsmF, these structures also reveal that key segments in the active site are likely to be dynamic in solution, thereby expanding substrate recognition by T. thermophilus RsmF.
Project description:With the wide spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria, a variety of aminoglycosides have been used in clinical practice as one of the effective options for antimicrobial combinations. However, in recent years, the emergence of high-level resistance against pan-aminoglycosides has worsened the status of antimicrobial resistance, so the production of 16S rRNA methyltransferase (16S-RMTase) should not be ignored as one of the most important resistance mechanisms. What is more, on account of transferable plasmids, the horizontal transfer of resistance genes between pathogens becomes easier and more widespread, which brings challenges to the treatment of infectious diseases and infection control of drug-resistant bacteria. In this review, we will make a presentation on the prevalence and genetic environment of 16S-RMTase encoding genes that lead to high-level resistance to aminoglycosides.
Project description:RNA methyltransferases (MTases) are important players in the biogenesis and regulation of the ribosome, the cellular machine for protein synthesis. RsmC is a MTase that catalyzes the transfer of a methyl group from S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) to G1207 of 16S rRNA. Mutations of G1207 have dominant lethal phenotypes in Escherichia coli, underscoring the significance of this modified nucleotide for ribosome function. Here we report the crystal structure of E. coli RsmC refined to 2.1 A resolution, which reveals two homologous domains tandemly duplicated within a single polypeptide. We characterized the function of the individual domains and identified key residues involved in binding of rRNA and SAM, and in catalysis. We also discovered that one of the domains is important for the folding of the other. Domain duplication and subfunctionalization by complementary degeneration of redundant functions (in particular substrate binding versus catalysis) has been reported for many enzymes, including those involved in RNA metabolism. Thus, RsmC can be regarded as a model system for functional streamlining of domains accompanied by the development of dependencies concerning folding and stability.
Project description:Proteus mirabilis ARS68, which demonstrated a very high level of resistance to various aminoglycosides, was isolated in 2003 from an inpatient in Japan. The aminoglycoside resistance of this strain could not be transferred to recipient strains Escherichia coli CSH-2 and E. coli HB101 by a general conjugation experiment, but E. coli DH5alpha was successfully transformed by electroporation with the plasmid of the parent strain, ARS68, and acquired an unusually high degree of resistance against aminoglycosides. Cloning and sequencing analyses revealed that the presence of a novel 16S rRNA methylase gene, designated rmtC, was responsible for resistance in strain ARS68 and its transformant. The G+C content of rmtC was 41.1%, and the deduced amino acid sequences of the newly identified 16S rRNA methylase, RmtC, shared a relatively low level of identity (< or = 29%) to other plasmid-mediated 16S rRNA methylases, RmtA, RmtB, and ArmA, which have also been identified in pathogenic gram-negative bacilli. Also, RmtC shared a low level of identity (< or = 28%) with the other 16S rRNA methylases found in aminoglycoside-producing actinomycetes. The purified histidine-tagged RmtC clearly showed methyltransferase activity against E. coli 16S rRNA in vitro. rmtC was located downstream of an ISEcp1-like element containing tnpA. Several plasmid-mediated 16S rRNA methylases have been identified in pathogenic gram-negative bacilli belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, and some of them are dispersing worldwide. The acceleration of aminoglycoside resistance among gram-negative bacilli by producing plasmid-mediated 16S rRNA methylases, such as RmtC, RmtB, and RmtA, may indeed become an actual clinical hazard in the near future.
Project description:The small ribosome subunit of Escherichia coli contains 10 base-methylated sites distributed in important functional regions. At present, seven enzymes responsible for methylation of eight bases are known, but most of them have not been well characterized. One of these enzymes, RsmE, was recently identified and shown to specifically methylate U1498. Here we describe the enzymatic properties and substrate specificity of RsmE. The enzyme forms dimers in solution and is most active in the presence of 10-15 mM Mg(2+) and 100 mM NH(4)Cl at pH 7-9; however, in the presence of spermidine, Mg(2+) is not required for activity. While small ribosome subunits obtained from an RsmE deletion strain can be methylated by purified RsmE, neither 70S ribosomes nor 50S subunits are active. Likewise, 16S rRNA obtained from the mutant strain, synthetic 16S rRNA, and 3' minor domain RNA are all very poor or inactive as substrates. 30S particles partially depleted of proteins by treatment with high concentrations of LiCl or in vitro reconstituted intermediate particles also show little or no methyl acceptor activity. Based on these data, we conclude that RsmE requires a highly structured ribonucleoprotein particle as a substrate for methylation, and that methylation events in the 3' minor domain of 16S rRNA probably occur late during 30S ribosome assembly.