Conservation and evolutionary dynamics of the agr cell-to-cell communication system across firmicutes.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Wuster A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2223712 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Conservation and evolutionary dynamics of the agr cell-to-cell communication system across firmicutes.
Wuster Arthur A Babu M Madan MM
Journal of bacteriology 20071012 2
We present evidence that the agr cell-to-cell communication system is present across firmicutes, including the human pathogen Clostridium perfringens. Although we find that the agr system is evolutionarily conserved and that the general functions which it regulates are similar in different species, the individual regulated genes are not the same. This suggests that the regulatory network controlled by agr is dynamic and evolves rapidly. ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:The thioredoxin family of oxidoreductases plays an important role in redox signaling and control of protein function. Not only are thioredoxins linked to a variety of disorders, but their stable structure has also seen application in protein engineering. Both sequence-based and structure-based tools exist for thioredoxin identification, but remote homolog detection remains a challenge. We developed a thioredoxin predictor using the approach of integrating sequence with structural information. We combined a sequence-based Hidden Markov Model (HMM) with a molecular dynamics enhanced structure-based recognition method (dynamic FEATURE, DF). This hybrid method (HMMDF) has high precision and recall (0.90 and 0.95, respectively) compared with HMM (0.92 and 0.87, respectively) and DF (0.82 and 0.97, respectively). Dynamic FEATURE is sensitive but struggles to resolve closely related protein families, while HMM identifies these evolutionary differences by compromising sensitivity. Our method applied to structural genomics targets makes a strong prediction of a novel thioredoxin.
| S-EPMC3075543 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The cell cycle is a fundamental process that has been extensively studied in bacteria. However, many of its components and their interactions with machineries involved in other cellular processes are poorly understood. Furthermore, most knowledge relies on the study of a few models, but the real diversity of the cell division apparatus and its evolution are largely unknown. Here, we present a massive in-silico analysis of cell division and associated processes in around 1,000 genomes of the Firmicutes, a major bacterial phylum encompassing models (i.e. Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus), as well as many important pathogens. We analyzed over 160 proteins by using an original approach combining phylogenetic reconciliation, phylogenetic profiles, and gene cluster survey. Our results reveal the presence of substantial differences among clades and pinpoints a number of evolutionary hotspots. In particular, the emergence of Bacilli coincides with an expansion of the gene repertoires involved in cell wall synthesis and remodeling. We also highlight major genomic rearrangements at the emergence of Streptococcaceae. We establish a functional network in Firmicutes that allows identifying new functional links inside one same process such as between FtsW (peptidoglycan polymerase) and a previously undescribed Penicilin-Binding Protein or between different processes, such as replication and cell wall synthesis. Finally, we identify new candidates involved in sporulation and cell wall synthesis. Our results provide a previously undescribed view on the diversity of the bacterial cell cycle, testable hypotheses for further experimental studies, and a methodological framework for the analysis of any other biological system.
| S-EPMC8136486 | biostudies-literature
Project description:RNAseq of exponentially growing cultures of the four agr prototype strains used in the study to investigate if differential expression of regulators interacting with the agr system could explain the differences in AIP sensitivity. Abstract Staphylococcus aureus both colonizes humans and causes severe virulent infections. Virulence is regulated by the agr quorum sensing system and its autoinducing peptide (AIP), with dynamics at the single-cell level across four agr-types – each defined by distinct AIP sequences and capable of cross-inhibition – remaining elusive. Employing microfluidics, time-lapse microscopy, and deep-learning image analysis, we uncovered significant differences in AIP sensitivity among agr-types. We observed bimodal agr activation, attributed to intergenerational phenotypic stability and influenced by AIP concentration. Upon AIP stimulation, agr III showed AIP insensitivity, while agr II exhibited increased sensitivity and prolonged generation time. Beyond expected cross-inhibition of agr I by heterologous AIP II and III, the presumably cross-activating AIP IV also inhibited agr I. Community interactions across different agr-type pairings revealed four main patterns: stable or switched dominance, and delayed or stable dual activation, influenced by community characteristics. These insights underscore the potential of personalized treatment strategies considering virulence and genetic diversity.
2024-03-05 | E-MTAB-13859 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Regulation of gene expression is highly conserved between vertebrates, yet the genomic binding patterns of transcription factors are poorly conserved, suggesting that other mechanisms may contribute. The spatial organization of chromosomes in the nucleus is known to affect gene activity, but it is unclear to what extent this organization is conserved in evolution. Genome-wide maps of nuclear lamina (NL) interactions show that human and mouse chromosomes have highly similar folding patterns inside the nucleus. Breaks in synteny are often located at transition points between NL interacting and intra-nuclear regions. Data were compared against data from Peric-Hupkes, Meuleman et al. (Molecular Cell, 2010). LaminB1-chromatin interactions were assayed in human ESCs and human HT1080 cells. LaminA-chromatin interactions were assayed in human HT1080 cells. For the all samples there were 2 biological replicates, that were hybridized in a dye-swap design.
2012-10-10 | E-GEOD-22428 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Control of host cell death is of paramount importance for the survival and replication of obligate intracellular bacteria. Among these, human pathogenic Chlamydia induces the inhibition of apoptosis in a variety of different host cells by directly interfering with cell death signaling. However, the evolutionary conservation of cell death regulation has not been investigated in the order Chlamydiales, which also includes Chlamydia-like organisms with a broader host spectrum. Here, we investigated the apoptotic response of human cells infected with the Chlamydia-like organism Simkania negevensis (Sn). Simkania infected cells exhibited strong resistance to apoptosis induced by intrinsic stress or by the activation of cell death receptors. Apoptotic signaling was blocked upstream of mitochondria since Bax translocation, Bax and Bak oligomerisation and cytochrome c release were absent in these cells. Infected cells turned on pro-survival pathways like cellular Inhibitor of Apoptosis Protein 2 (cIAP-2) and the Akt/PI3K pathway. Blocking any of these inhibitory pathways sensitized infected host cell towards apoptosis induction, demonstrating their role in infection-induced apoptosis resistance. Our data support the hypothesis of evolutionary conserved signaling pathways to apoptosis resistance as common denominators in the order Chlamydiales.
| S-EPMC3142178 | biostudies-literature
Project description:E.O. Wilson proposed in Sociobiology that similarities between human and animal societies reflect common mechanistic and evolutionary roots. When introduced in 1975 this controversial hypothesis was beyond science’s ability to test and remains unproven. We used genomic analyses to determine whether superficial behavioral similarities in humans and the highly social honey bee reflect common molecular mechanisms. Here we report that gene expression signatures for individual bees unresponsive to various salient social stimuli are significantly enriched for autism spectrum disorder-related genes. These signatures occur in the mushroom bodies, a high-level integration center of the insect brain. Further, our finding of enrichment was unique to autism spectrum disorders; brain gene expression signatures from other honey bee behaviors do not show this enrichment, nor do data sets from other human behavioral and health conditions. These results demonstrate deep conservation for genes associated with a human social pathology and individual differences in insect social behavior, thus providing an example of how comparative genomics can be used to test sociobiological theory.
2017-06-21 | GSE87001 | GEO
Project description:Regulation of gene expression is highly conserved between vertebrates, yet the genomic binding patterns of transcription factors are poorly conserved, suggesting that other mechanisms may contribute. The spatial organization of chromosomes in the nucleus is known to affect gene activity, but it is unclear to what extent this organization is conserved in evolution. Genome-wide maps of nuclear lamina (NL) interactions show that human and mouse chromosomes have highly similar folding patterns inside the nucleus. Breaks in synteny are often located at transition points between NL interacting and intra-nuclear regions. Data were compared against data from Peric-Hupkes, Meuleman et al. (Molecular Cell, 2010). The procedure to arrive at the provided Hidden Markov Model (HMM) state calls is as follows: We fitted a two-state HMM whereby emissions are distributed as Student's t variables. Mean and variance of DamID signals differ between states, but the degree of freedom (nu) is the same. Gaps in the probe coverage were filled by evenly spaced null probe-values. The parameters were estimated by an adaptation of the ECME algorithm to the HMM framework, showing faster convergence than regular EM when nu is unknown (Filion et al., Cell, 2010). State calls were derived through the Viterbi algorithm. This process was repeated separately for each cell type, yielding per-probe calls. Probes in the ‘bound’ (1) state are indicated as LAD-probes, probes in the ‘unbound’ (0) state as inter-LAD-probes. All data are mapped to human reference genome assembly NCBI36 / hg18
2012-10-10 | GSE22428 | GEO
Project description:The evolution of signal transduction pathways is constrained by the requirements of signal fidelity, yet flexibility is necessary to allow pathway remodeling in response to environmental challenges. A detailed understanding of how flexibility and constraint shape bacterial two component signaling systems is emerging, but how new signal transduction architectures arise remains unclear. Here, we investigate pathway remodeling using the Firmicute sporulation initiation (Spo0) pathway as a model. The present-day Spo0 pathways in Bacilli and Clostridia share common ancestry, but possess different architectures. In Clostridium acetobutylicum, sensor kinases directly phosphorylate Spo0A, the master regulator of sporulation. In Bacillus subtilis, Spo0A is activated via a four-protein phosphorelay. The current view favors an ancestral direct phosphorylation architecture, with the phosphorelay emerging in the Bacillar lineage. Our results reject this hypothesis. Our analysis of 84 broadly distributed Firmicute genomes predicts phosphorelays in numerous Clostridia, contrary to the expectation that the Spo0 phosphorelay is unique to Bacilli. Our experimental verification of a functional Spo0 phosphorelay encoded by Desulfotomaculum acetoxidans (Class Clostridia) further supports functional phosphorelays in Clostridia, which strongly suggests that the ancestral Spo0 pathway was a phosphorelay. Cross complementation assays between Bacillar and Clostridial phosphorelays demonstrate conservation of interaction specificity since their divergence over 2.7 BYA. Further, the distribution of direct phosphorylation Spo0 pathways is patchy, suggesting multiple, independent instances of remodeling from phosphorelay to direct phosphorylation. We provide evidence that these transitions are likely the result of changes in sporulation kinase specificity or acquisition of a sensor kinase with specificity for Spo0A, which is remarkably conserved in both architectures. We conclude that flexible encoding of interaction specificity, a phenotype that is only intermittently essential, and the recruitment of kinases to recognize novel environmental signals resulted in a consistent and repeated pattern of remodeling of the Spo0 pathway.
| S-EPMC6136694 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Evolution on a time scale similar to ecological dynamics has been increasingly recognized for the last three decades. Selection mediated by ecological interactions can change heritable phenotypic variation (i.e., evolution), and evolution of traits, in turn, can affect ecological interactions. Hence, ecological and evolutionary dynamics can be tightly linked and important to predict future dynamics, but our understanding of eco-evolutionary dynamics is still in its infancy and there is a significant gap between theoretical predictions and empirical tests. Empirical studies have demonstrated that the presence of genetic variation can dramatically change ecological dynamics, whereas theoretical studies predict that eco-evolutionary dynamics depend on the details of the genetic variation, such as the form of a tradeoff among genotypes, which can be more important than the presence or absence of the genetic variation. Using a predator-prey (rotifer-algal) experimental system in laboratory microcosms, we studied how different forms of a tradeoff between prey defense and growth affect eco-evolutionary dynamics. Our experimental results show for the first time to our knowledge that different forms of the tradeoff produce remarkably divergent eco-evolutionary dynamics, including near fixation, near extinction, and coexistence of algal genotypes, with quantitatively different population dynamics. A mathematical model, parameterized from completely independent experiments, explains the observed dynamics. The results suggest that knowing the details of heritable trait variation and covariation within a population is essential for understanding how evolution and ecology will interact and what form of eco-evolutionary dynamics will result.
| S-EPMC4234545 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The accessory gene regulator (agr) locus influences the expression of many virulence genes in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Four allelic groups of agr, which generally inhibit the regulatory activity of each other, have been identified within the species. Interference in virulence gene expression caused by different agr groups has been suggested to be a mechanism for isolating bacterial populations and a fundamental basis for subdividing the species. To test the hypothesis that the species is phylogenetically structured according to agr groups, we mapped agr groups onto a clone phylogeny inferred from partial sequences of 14 genes from 27 genetically diverse strains. Shimodaira-Hasegawa and parametric bootstrap tests rejected the hypotheses that the species is subdivided into three or five monophyletic agr groups but failed to reject the hypothesis that the species is subdivided into two groups that each consist of multiple clonal complexes and multiple agr groups. Additional evidence for agr recombination is found from clustered polymorphisms in complete agr sequences. However, agr recombination has not occurred frequently or randomly through time, because the topology and branch lengths of the clone phylogeny are reflected within each agr group. To account for these observations, we propose a new evolutionary model that involves a genetically polymorphic ancestral population of S. aureus that horizontally transferred agr groups between two subspecies groups near the time that these subspecies groups diverged.
| S-EPMC1317016 | biostudies-literature