Streptococcus suis Encodes Multiple Allelic Variants of a Phase-Variable Type III DNA Methyltransferase, ModS, That Control Distinct Phasevarions.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus suis is a significant cause of bacterial meningitis in humans, particularly in Southeast Asia, and is a leading cause of respiratory and invasive disease in pigs. Phase-variable DNA methyltransferases, associated with restriction-modification (R-M) systems, are a source of epigenetic gene regulation, controlling the expression of multiple genes. These systems are known as phasevarions (phase-variable regulons) and have been characterized in many host-adapted bacterial pathogens. We recently described the presence of a Type III DNA methyltransferase in S. suis, ModS, which contains a simple sequence repeat (SSR) tract within the open reading frame of the modS gene and which differed in length between individual strains. We also observed that multiple allel

SUBMITTER: Tram G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8125046 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature