Temperate phages acquire DNA from defective prophages by relaxed homologous recombination: the role of Rad52-like recombinases.

ABSTRACT: Bacteriophages (or phages) dominate the biosphere both numerically and in terms of genetic diversity. In particular, genomic comparisons suggest a remarkable level of horizontal gene transfer among temperate phages, favoring a high evolution rate. Molecular mechanisms of this pervasive mosaicism are mostly unknown. One hypothesis is that phage encoded recombinases are key players in these horizontal transfers, thanks to their high efficiency and low fidelity. Here, we associate two complementary in vivo assays and a bioinformatics analysis to address the role of phage encoded recombinases in genomic mosaicism. The first assay allowed determining the genetic determinants of mosaic formation between lambdoid phages and Escherichia coli prophage remnants. In the second assay, recombination wa

SUBMITTER: De Paepe M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3945230 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature