The Type IV Secretion System of ICEAfe1: Formation of a Conjugative Pilus in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans.

ABSTRACT: The dispersal of mobile genetic elements and their gene cargo relies on type IV secretion systems (T4SS). In this work the ICEAfe1 Tra-type T4SS nanomachine, encoded in the publicly available genome of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270^TY, was characterized in terms of its organization, conservation, expression and mating bridge formation. Twenty-one conjugative genes grouped in four genetic clusters encode the ICEAfe1 T4SS, containing all the indispensable functions for the formation and stabilization of the pili and for DNA processing. The clusters' organization resembles that of other mobile genetic elements (such as plasmids and integrative and conjugative elements-ICEs). Sequence conservation, genetic organization and distribution of the tra</

SUBMITTER: Flores-Rios R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6370655 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature