Polyvalent Proteins, a Pervasive Theme in the Intergenomic Biological Conflicts of Bacteriophages and Conjugative Elements.

ABSTRACT: Intense biological conflicts between prokaryotic genomes and their genomic parasites have resulted in an arms race in terms of the molecular "weaponry" deployed on both sides. Using a recursive computational approach, we uncovered a remarkable class of multidomain proteins with 2 to 15 domains in the same polypeptide deployed by viruses and plasmids in such conflicts. Domain architectures and genomic contexts indicate that they are part of a widespread conflict strategy involving proteins injected into the host cell along with parasite DNA during the earliest phase of infection. Their unique feature is the combination of domains with highly disparate biochemical activities in the same polypeptide; accordingly, we term them polyvalent proteins. Of the 131 domains in polyvalent proteins, a l

SUBMITTER: Iyer LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5512222 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature