Project description:One key concept in the evolution of new functions is the ability of enzymes to perform promiscuous side-reactions that serve as a source of novelty that may become beneficial under certain conditions. Here, we identify a mechanism where a bacteriophage-encoded enzyme introduces novelty by inducing expression of a promiscuous bacterial enzyme. By screening for bacteriophage DNA that rescued an auxotrophic E. coli mutant carrying a deletion of the ilvA gene, we show that bacteriophage-encoded S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) hydrolases reduce SAM levels. Via this perturbation of bacterial metabolism, expression of the promiscuous bacterial enzyme MetB is increased, which in turn complements the absence of IlvA. These results demonstrate how foreign DNA can increase the metabolic capacity of bacteria, not only by transfer of bona fide new genes, but also by bringing cryptic bacterial functions to light via perturbations of cellular physiology.
Project description:One key concept in the evolution of new functions is the ability of enzymes to perform promiscuous side-reactions that serve as a source of novelty that may become beneficial under certain conditions. Here, we identify a mechanism where a bacteriophage-encoded enzyme introduces novelty by inducing expression of a promiscuous bacterial enzyme. By screening for bacteriophage DNA that rescued an auxotrophic E. coli mutant carrying a deletion of the ilvA gene, we show that bacteriophage-encoded S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) hydrolases reduce SAM levels. Via this perturbation of bacterial metabolism, expression of the promiscuous bacterial enzyme MetB is increased, which in turn complements the absence of IlvA. These results demonstrate how foreign DNA can increase the metabolic capacity of bacteria, not only by transfer of bona fide new genes, but also by bringing cryptic bacterial functions to light via perturbations of cellular physiology.
Project description:Expression profiles of wild-type and SgrR mutant E. coli strains under aMG and 2-DG-induced stress. Expression profiles of E. coli overexpressing SgrS sRNA. Illumina RNA-Seq of total RNA extracted from wild-type, SgrR/SgrS mutant and SgrS overexpressing E. coli strains grown in different conditions.
Project description:Mature tRNA pools were measured using an adaptation of YAMAT-seq (Shigematsu et al., 2017; doi:10.1093/nar/gkx005 ) and further described in (Ayan et al., 2020; doi:10.7554/eLife.57947) in 10 strain-medium combinations (all strains dervied from the model bacterium E. coli MG1655). The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of reducing tRNA gene copy number on mature tRNA pools in rich and poor media.
Project description:The current study deals to decipher the antibacterial mechanism of lysozyme coated silver nanoparticles (L-Ag NPs) (coated with lysozyme) against a Gram negative modal organism Escherichia coli K12 (MTCC 1302). Hence, the whole transcriptome profiling of E. coli K12 was done by exposing it to the MIC75 concentration of L-Ag NPs for 5 and 30 min., by RNA sequencing (RNAseq) analysis. The obtained results were utilized to understand all the metabolic pathways, signaling and molecular functions in bacterial cells under the stress of L-Ag NPs. RNAseq showed a high number of total reads along with significant ratio of high-quality reads, which confirmed the excellent quality and quantity of the obtained RNAseq data. Controlled release of ions from the surface of L-Ag NPs allowed the bacterial cells to function normally till the accumulation of threshold amount of silver ions which triggered the action of defence system, thus, reducing the chances of resistance development in bacteria. In long term, such treatment may force the bacterial machinery to induce changes in their genome to counteract the situation and develop resistance against silver ions, similar to the well-known antibiotic resistance problem. The obtained results advocate that L-Ag NPs can be used as effective antibacterial agent.