Dataset Information

A novel non-homologous recombination-mediated mechanism for Escherichia coli unilateral flagellar phase variation.

ABSTRACT: Flagella contribute to the virulence of bacteria through chemotaxis, adhesion to and invasion of host surfaces. Flagellar phase variation is believed to facilitate bacterial evasion of the host immune response. In this study, the flnA gene that encodes Escherichia coli H17 flagellin was examined by whole genome sequencing and genetic deletion analysis. Unilateral flagellar phase variation has been reported in E. coli H3, H47 and H17 strains, although the mechanism for phase variation in the H17 strain has not been previously understood. Analysis of phase variants indicated that the flagellar phase variation in the H17 strain was caused by the deletion of an ?35?kb DNA region containing the flnA gene from diverse excision sites. The presence of covalently closed extrachromosomal circular forms of this excised 35?kb region was confirmed by the two-step polymerase chain reaction. The deletion and complementation test revealed that the Int1157 integrase, a tyrosine recombinase, mediates the excision of this region. Unlike most tyrosine recombinases, Int1157 is suggested to recognize diverse sites and mediate recombination between non-homologous DNA sequences. This is the first report of non-homologous recombination mediating flagellar phase variation.

SUBMITTER: Liu B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3378880 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A novel non-homologous recombination-mediated mechanism for Escherichia coli unilateral flagellar phase variation.

Liu Bin B Hu Bo B Zhou Zhemin Z Guo Dan D Guo Xi X Ding Peng P Feng Lu L Wang Lei L

Nucleic acids research 20120128 10

Flagella contribute to the virulence of bacteria through chemotaxis, adhesion to and invasion of host surfaces. Flagellar phase variation is believed to facilitate bacterial evasion of the host immune response. In this study, the flnA gene that encodes Escherichia coli H17 flagellin was examined by whole genome sequencing and genetic deletion analysis. Unilateral flagellar phase variation has been reported in E. coli H3, H47 and H17 strains, although the mechanism for phase variation in the H17 ...[more]

PMID: 22287625

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Escherichia coli is an important species of bacteria that can live as a harmless inhabitant of the guts of many animals, as a pathogen causing life-threatening conditions or freely in the non-host environment. This diversity of lifestyles has made it a particular focus of interest for studies of genetic variation, mainly with the aim to understand how a commensal can become a deadly pathogen. Many whole genomes of E. coli have been fully sequenced in the past few years, which offer helpful data to help understand how this important species evolved. RESULTS:We compared 27 whole genomes encompassing four phylogroups of Escherichia coli (A, B1, B2 and E). From the core-genome we established the clonal relationships between the isolates as well as the role played by homologous recombination during their evolution from a common ancestor. We found strong evidence for sexual isolation between three lineages (A+B1, B2, E), which could be explained by the ecological structuring of E. coli and may represent on-going speciation. We identified three hotspots of homologous recombination, one of which had not been previously described and contains the aroC gene, involved in the essential shikimate metabolic pathway. We also described the role played by non-homologous recombination in the pan-genome, and showed that this process was highly heterogeneous. Our analyses revealed in particular that the genomes of three enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) strains within phylogroup B1 have converged from originally separate backgrounds as a result of both homologous and non-homologous recombination. CONCLUSIONS:Recombination is an important force shaping the genomic evolution and diversification of E. coli, both by replacing fragments of genes with an homologous sequence and also by introducing new genes. In this study, several non-random patterns of these events were identified which correlated with important changes in the lifestyle of the bacteria, and therefore provide additional evidence to explain the relationship between genomic variation and ecological adaptation.

Dataset Information

A novel non-homologous recombination-mediated mechanism for Escherichia coli unilateral flagellar phase variation.

Publications

A novel non-homologous recombination-mediated mechanism for Escherichia coli unilateral flagellar phase variation.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets