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E622, a miniature, virulence-associated mobile element.

ABSTRACT: Miniature inverted terminal repeat elements (MITEs) are nonautonomous mobile elements that have a significant impact on bacterial evolution. Here we characterize E622, a 611-bp virulence-associated MITE from Pseudomonas syringae, which contains no coding region but has almost perfect 168-bp inverted repeats. Using an antibiotic coupling assay, we show that E622 is transposable and can mobilize an antibiotic resistance gene contained between its borders. Its predicted parent element, designated TnE622, has a typical transposon structure with a three-gene operon, consisting of resolvase, integrase, and exeA-like genes, which is bounded by the same terminal inverted repeats as E622. A broader genome level survey of the E622/TnE622 inverted repeats identified homologs in Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Shewanella, Erwinia, Pantoea, and the cyanobacteria Nostoc and Cyanothece, many of which appear to encompass known virulence genes, including genes encoding toxins, enzymes, and type III secreted effectors. Its association with niche-specific genetic determinants, along with its persistence and evolutionary diversification, indicates that this mobile element family has played a prominent role in the evolution of many agriculturally and clinically relevant pathogenic bacteria.

SUBMITTER: Stavrinides J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3256676 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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E622, a miniature, virulence-associated mobile element.

Stavrinides John J Kirzinger Morgan W B MW Beasley Federico C FC Guttman David S DS

Journal of bacteriology 20111111 2

Miniature inverted terminal repeat elements (MITEs) are nonautonomous mobile elements that have a significant impact on bacterial evolution. Here we characterize E622, a 611-bp virulence-associated MITE from Pseudomonas syringae, which contains no coding region but has almost perfect 168-bp inverted repeats. Using an antibiotic coupling assay, we show that E622 is transposable and can mobilize an antibiotic resistance gene contained between its borders. Its predicted parent element, designated T ...[more]

PMID: 22081398

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Project description:Insertion sequences (IS) are fundamental mediators of genome plasticity with the potential to generate phenotypic variation with significant evolutionary outcomes. Here, a recently active miniature inverted-repeat transposon element (MITE) was identified in a derivative of Acinetobacter baumannii ATCC 17978 after being subjected to stress conditions. Transposition of the novel element led to the disruption of the hns gene, resulting in a characteristic hypermotile phenotype. DNA identity shared between the terminal inverted repeats of this MITE and coresident ISAba12 elements, together with the generation of 9-bp target site duplications, provides strong evidence that ISAba12 elements were responsible for mobilization of the MITE (designated MITE Aba12 ) within this strain. A wider genome-level survey identified MITE Aba12 in 30 additional Acinetobacter genomes at various frequencies and one Moraxella osloensis genome. Ninety MITE Aba12 copies could be identified, of which 40% had target site duplications, indicating recent transposition events. Elements ranged between 111 and 114?bp; 90% were 113?bp in length. Using the MITE Aba12 consensus sequence, putative outward-facing Escherichia coli ?70 promoter sequences in both orientations were identified. The identification of transcripts originating from the promoter in one direction supports the proposal that the element can influence neighboring host gene transcription. The location of MITE Aba12 varied significantly between and within genomes, preferentially integrating into AT-rich regions. Additionally, a copy of MITE Aba12 was identified in a novel 8.5-kb composite transposon, Tn6645, in the M. osloensis CCUG 350 chromosome. Overall, this study shows that MITE Aba12 is the most abundant nonautonomous element currently found in Acinetobacter IMPORTANCE One of the most important weapons in the armory of Acinetobacter is its impressive genetic plasticity, facilitating rapid genetic mutations and rearrangements as well as integration of foreign determinants carried by mobile genetic elements. Of these, IS are considered one of the key forces shaping bacterial genomes and ultimately evolution. We report the identification of a novel nonautonomous IS-derived element present in multiple bacterial species from the Moraxellaceae family and its recent translocation into the hns locus in the A. baumannii ATCC 17978 genome. The latter finding adds new knowledge to only a limited number of documented examples of MITEs in the literature and underscores the plastic nature of the hns locus in A. baumannii MITE Aba12 , and its predicted parent(s), may be a source of substantial adaptive evolution within environmental and clinically relevant bacterial pathogens and, thus, have broad implications for niche-specific adaptation.

Dataset Information

E622, a miniature, virulence-associated mobile element.

Publications

E622, a miniature, virulence-associated mobile element.

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