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Occurrence and expression of gene transfer agent genes in marine bacterioplankton.

ABSTRACT: Genes with homology to the transduction-like gene transfer agent (GTA) were observed in genome sequences of three cultured members of the marine Roseobacter clade. A broader search for homologs for this host-controlled virus-like gene transfer system identified likely GTA systems in cultured Alphaproteobacteria, and particularly in marine bacterioplankton representatives. Expression of GTA genes and extracellular release of GTA particles ( approximately 50 to 70 nm) was demonstrated experimentally for the Roseobacter clade member Silicibacter pomeroyi DSS-3, and intraspecific gene transfer was documented. GTA homologs are surprisingly infrequent in marine metagenomic sequence data, however, and the role of this lateral gene transfer mechanism in ocean bacterioplankton communities remains unclear.

SUBMITTER: Biers EJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2394915 | biostudies-literature | 2008 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Occurrence and expression of gene transfer agent genes in marine bacterioplankton.

Biers Erin J EJ Wang Kui K Pennington Catherine C Belas Robert R Chen Feng F Moran Mary Ann MA

Applied and environmental microbiology 20080321 10

Genes with homology to the transduction-like gene transfer agent (GTA) were observed in genome sequences of three cultured members of the marine Roseobacter clade. A broader search for homologs for this host-controlled virus-like gene transfer system identified likely GTA systems in cultured Alphaproteobacteria, and particularly in marine bacterioplankton representatives. Expression of GTA genes and extracellular release of GTA particles ( approximately 50 to 70 nm) was demonstrated experimental ...[more]

PMID: 18359833

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Project description:VSH-1 is a mitomycin C-inducible prophage of the anaerobic spirochete Brachyspira hyodysenteriae. Purified VSH-1 virions are noninfectious, contain random 7.5-kb fragments of the bacterial genome, and mediate generalized transduction of B. hyodysenteriae cells. In order to identify and sequence genes of this novel gene transfer agent (GTA), proteins associated either with VSH-1 capsids or with tails were purified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The N-terminal amino acid sequences of 11 proteins were determined. Degenerate PCR primers were designed from the amino acid sequences and used to amplify several VSH-1 genes from B. hyodysenteriae strain B204 DNA. A lambda clone library of B. hyodysenteriae B204 DNA was subsequently screened by Southern hybridization methods and used to identify and sequence overlapping DNA inserts containing additional VSH-1 genes. VSH-1 genes spanned 16.3 kb of the B. hyodysenteriae chromosome and were flanked by bacterial genes. VSH-1 identified genes and unidentified, intervening open reading frames were consecutively organized in head (seven genes), tail (seven genes), and lysis (four genes) clusters in the same transcriptional direction. Putative lysis genes encoding endolysin (Lys) and holin proteins were identified from sequence and structural similarities of their translated protein products with GenBank bacteriophage proteins. Recombinant Lys protein hydrolyzed peptidoglycan purified from B. hyodysenteriae cells. The identified VSH-1 genes exceed the DNA capacity of VSH-1 virions and do not encode traditional bacteriophage early functions involved in DNA replication. These genome properties explain the noninfectious nature of VSH-1 virions and further confirm its resemblance to known prophage-like, GTAs of other bacterial species, such as the GTA from Rhodobacter capsulatus. The identification of VSH-1 genes will enable analysis of the regulation of this GTA and should facilitate investigations of VSH-1-like prophages from other Brachyspira species.

Dataset Information

Occurrence and expression of gene transfer agent genes in marine bacterioplankton.

Publications

Occurrence and expression of gene transfer agent genes in marine bacterioplankton.

Similar Datasets

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