Dataset Information

Pathological phenotypes and in vivo?DNA cleavage by unrestrained activity of a phosphorothioate-based restriction system in Salmonella.

ABSTRACT: Prokaryotes protect their genomes from foreign DNA with a diversity of defence mechanisms, including a widespread restriction-modification (R-M) system involving phosphorothioate (PT) modification of the DNA backbone. Unlike classical R-M systems, highly partial PT modification of consensus motifs in bacterial genomes suggests an unusual mechanism of PT-dependent restriction. In Salmonella enterica, PT modification is mediated by four genes dptB-E, while restriction involves additional three genes dptF-H. Here, we performed a series of studies to characterize the PT-dependent restriction, and found that it presented several features distinct with traditional R-M systems. The presence of restriction genes in a PT-deficient mutant was not lethal, but instead resulted in several pathological phenotypes. Subsequent transcriptional profiling revealed the expression of >?600 genes was affected by restriction enzymes in cells lacking PT, including induction of bacteriophage, SOS response and DNA repair-related genes. These transcriptional responses are consistent with the observation that restriction enzymes caused extensive DNA cleavage in the absence of PT modifications in vivo. However, overexpression of restriction genes was lethal to the host in spite of the presence PT modifications. These results point to an unusual mechanism of PT-dependent DNA cleavage by restriction enzymes in the face of partial PT modification.

SUBMITTER: Cao B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4414249 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Pathological phenotypes and in vivo DNA cleavage by unrestrained activity of a phosphorothioate-based restriction system in Salmonella.

Cao Bo B Cheng Qiuxiang Q Gu Chen C Yao Fen F DeMott Michael S MS Zheng Xiaoqing X Deng Zixin Z Dedon Peter C PC You Delin D

Molecular microbiology 20140723 4

Prokaryotes protect their genomes from foreign DNA with a diversity of defence mechanisms, including a widespread restriction-modification (R-M) system involving phosphorothioate (PT) modification of the DNA backbone. Unlike classical R-M systems, highly partial PT modification of consensus motifs in bacterial genomes suggests an unusual mechanism of PT-dependent restriction. In Salmonella enterica, PT modification is mediated by four genes dptB-E, while restriction involves additional three gen ...[more]

PMID: 25040300

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Project description:Unlike nucleobase modifications in canonical restriction-modification systems, DNA phosphorothioate (PT) epigenetic modification occurs in the DNA sugar-phosphate backbone when the nonbridging oxygen is replaced by sulfur in a double-stranded (ds) or single-stranded (ss) manner governed by DndABCDE or SspABCD, respectively. SspABCD coupled with SspE constitutes a defense barrier in which SspE depends on sequence-specific PT modifications to exert its antiphage activity. Here, we identified a new type of ssDNA PT-based SspABCD-SspFGH defense system capable of providing protection against phages through a mode of action different from that of SspABCD-SspE. We provide further evidence that SspFGH damages non-PT-modified DNA and exerts antiphage activity by suppressing phage DNA replication. Despite their different defense mechanisms, SspFGH and SspE are compatible and pair simultaneously with one SspABCD module, greatly enhancing the protection against phages. Together with the observation that the sspBCD-sspFGH cassette is widely distributed in bacterial genomes, this study highlights the diversity of PT-based defense barriers and expands our knowledge of the arsenal of phage defense mechanisms.IMPORTANCE We recently found that SspABCD, catalyzing single-stranded (ss) DNA phosphorothioate (PT) modification, coupled with SspE provides protection against phage infection. SspE performs both PT-simulated NTPase and DNA-nicking nuclease activities to damage phage DNA, rendering SspA-E a PT-sensing defense system. To our surprise, ssDNA PT modification can also pair with a newly identified 3-gene sspFGH cassette to fend off phage infection with a different mode of action from that of SspE. Interestingly, both SspFGH and SspE can pair with the same SspABCD module for antiphage defense, and their combination provides Escherichia coli JM109 with additive phage resistance up to 105-fold compared to that for either barrier alone. This agrees with our observation that SspFGH and SspE coexist in 36 bacterial genomes, highlighting the diversity of the gene contents and molecular mechanisms of PT-based defense systems.

Dataset Information

Pathological phenotypes and in vivo?DNA cleavage by unrestrained activity of a phosphorothioate-based restriction system in Salmonella.

Publications

Pathological phenotypes and in vivo DNA cleavage by unrestrained activity of a phosphorothioate-based restriction system in Salmonella.

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