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Chromosomal transformation in Bacillus subtilis is a non-polar recombination reaction.

ABSTRACT: Natural chromosomal transformation is one of the primary driving forces of bacterial evolution. This reaction involves the recombination of the internalized linear single-stranded (ss) DNA with the homologous resident duplex via RecA-mediated integration in concert with SsbA and DprA or RecO. We show that sequence divergence prevents Bacillus subtilis chromosomal transformation in a log-linear fashion, but it exerts a minor effect when the divergence is localized at a discrete end. In the nucleotide bound form, RecA shows no apparent preference to initiate recombination at the 3'- or 5'-complementary end of the linear duplex with circular ssDNA, but nucleotide hydrolysis is required when heterology is present at both ends. RecA·dATP initiates pairing of the linear 5' and 3' complementary ends, but only initiation at the 5'-end remains stably paired in the absence of SsbA. Our results suggest that during gene transfer RecA·ATP, in concert with SsbA and DprA or RecO, shows a moderate preference for the 3'-end of the duplex. We show that RecA-mediated recombination initiated at the 3'- or 5'-complementary end might have significant implication on the ecological diversification of bacterial species with natural transformation.

SUBMITTER: Carrasco B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4824099 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Chromosomal transformation in Bacillus subtilis is a non-polar recombination reaction.

Carrasco Begoña B Serrano Ester E Sánchez Humberto H Wyman Claire C Alonso Juan C JC

Nucleic acids research 20160118 6

Natural chromosomal transformation is one of the primary driving forces of bacterial evolution. This reaction involves the recombination of the internalized linear single-stranded (ss) DNA with the homologous resident duplex via RecA-mediated integration in concert with SsbA and DprA or RecO. We show that sequence divergence prevents Bacillus subtilis chromosomal transformation in a log-linear fashion, but it exerts a minor effect when the divergence is localized at a discrete end. In the nucleo ...[more]

PMID: 26786319

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Project description:Global transcriptional profiling of Bacillus subtilis cells comparing wild-type to a ccpN (yqzB) non polar mutant. Abstract of associated publication (article accepted): The transcriptional regulator CcpN of Bacillus subtilis has been recently characterized as a repressor of two gluconeogenic genes, gapB and pckA, and of a small non-coding regulatory RNA, sr1, involved in arginine catabolism. Deletion of ccpN impairs growth on glucose and strongly alters the distribution of intracellular fluxes, rerouting the main glucose catabolism from glycolysis to the pentose phosphate (PP) pathway. Using transcriptome analysis, we show that during growth on glucose, gapB and pckA are the only protein-coding genes directly repressed by CcpN. By quantifying intracellular fluxes in deletion mutants, we demonstrate that derepression of pckA under glycolytic condition causes the growth defect observed in the ccpN mutant due to extensive futile cycling through the pyruvate carboxylase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and pyruvate kinase. Beyond ATP dissipation via this cycle, PckA activity causes a drain on tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, which we show to be the main reason for the reduced growth of a ccpN mutant. The high flux through the PP pathway in the ccpN mutant is modulated by the flux through the alternative glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases, GapA and GapB. Strongly increased concentrations of intermediates in upper glycolysis indicate that GapB overexpression causes a metabolic jamming of this pathway and, consequently, increases the relative flux through the PP pathway. In contrast, derepression of sr1, the third known target of CcpN, plays only a marginal role in ccpN mutant phenotypes. Two-condition experiment, wt vs. ccpN mutant. 4 experiments were performed different days with 3 independent RNA preparations (from separate cultures) and 3 independent sets of macroarrays: Experiment 1 (samples wt1 and ccpN1): total RNA extract1 / membranes set A Expereince 2 (samples wt2 and ccpN2): total RNA extract 2 / membranes set A Experiment 3 (samples wt2 and ccpN2): total RNA extract 3 / membranes set B Experiment 4 (samples wt2 and ccpN2): total RNA extract 3 / membranes set C

Project description:Bacterial MutS proteins are subdivided into two families, MutS1 and MutS2. MutS1 family members recognize DNA replication errors during their participation in the well-characterized mismatch repair (MMR) pathway. In contrast to the well-described function of MutS1, the function of MutS2 in bacteria has remained less clear. In Helicobacter pylori and Thermus thermophilus, MutS2 has been shown to suppress homologous recombination. The role of MutS2 is unknown in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis In this work, we investigated the contribution of MutS2 to maintaining genome integrity in B. subtilis We found that deletion of mutS2 renders B. subtilis sensitive to the natural antibiotic mitomycin C (MMC), which requires homologous recombination for repair. We demonstrate that the C-terminal small MutS-related (Smr) domain is necessary but not sufficient for tolerance to MMC. Further, we developed a CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system to test if the inducible prophage PBSX was the underlying cause of the observed MMC sensitivity. Genetic analysis revealed that MMC sensitivity was dependent on recombination and not on nucleotide excision repair or a symptom of prophage PBSX replication and cell lysis. We found that deletion of mutS2 resulted in decreased transformation efficiency using both plasmid and chromosomal DNA. Further, deletion of mutS2 in a strain lacking the Holliday junction endonuclease gene recU resulted in increased MMC sensitivity and decreased transformation efficiency, suggesting that MutS2 could function redundantly with RecU. Together, our results support a model where B. subtilis MutS2 helps to promote homologous recombination, demonstrating a new function for bacterial MutS2.ImportanceCells contain pathways that promote or inhibit recombination. MutS2 homologs are Smr-endonuclease domain-containing proteins that have been shown to function in antirecombination in some bacteria. We present evidence that B. subtilis MutS2 promotes recombination, providing a new function for MutS2. We found that cells lacking mutS2 are sensitive to DNA damage that requires homologous recombination for repair and have reduced transformation efficiency. Further analysis indicates that the C-terminal Smr domain requires the N-terminal portion of MutS2 for function in vivo Moreover, we show that a mutS2 deletion is additive with a recU deletion, suggesting that these proteins have a redundant function in homologous recombination. Together, our study shows that MutS2 proteins have adapted different functions that impact recombination.

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Chromosomal transformation in Bacillus subtilis is a non-polar recombination reaction.

Publications

Chromosomal transformation in Bacillus subtilis is a non-polar recombination reaction.

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