RinA controls phage-mediated packaging and transfer of virulence genes in Gram-positive bacteria
Ferrer, Maria Desamparados (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias)
Quiles Puchalt, Nuria (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias)
Harwich, Michael D. (Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Department of Microbiology and Immunology)
Tormo Mas, María Ángeles (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias)
Campoy Sánchez, Susana (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Barbé García, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia)
Lasa, Íñigo (Universidad Pública de Navarra)
Novick, Richard P. (New York University Medical Center)
Christie, Gail E. (Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Department of Microbiology and Immunology)
Penadés, José R. (Instituto de Investigación en Ganadería de Montaña)

Date:	2011
Abstract:	Phage-mediated transfer of microbial genetic elements plays a crucial role in bacterial life style and evolution. In this study, we identify the RinA family of phage-encoded proteins as activators required for transcription of the late operon in a large group of temperate staphylococcal phages. RinA binds to a tightly regulated promoter region, situated upstream of the terS gene, that controls expression of the morphogenetic and lysis modules of the phage, activating their transcription. As expected, rinA deletion eliminated formation of functional phage particles and significantly decreased the transfer of phage and pathogenicity island encoded virulence factors. A genetic analysis of the late promoter region showed that a fragment of 272bp contains both the promoter and the region necessary for activation by RinA. In addition, we demonstrated that RinA is the only phage-encoded protein required for the activation of this promoter region. This region was shown to be divergent among different phages. Consequently, phages with divergent promoter regions carried allelic variants of the RinA protein, which specifically recognize its own promoter sequence. Finally, most Gram-postive bacteria carry bacteriophages encoding RinA homologue proteins. Characterization of several of these proteins demonstrated that control by RinA of the phage-mediated packaging and transfer of virulence factor is a conserved mechanism regulating horizontal gene transfer.
Grants:	Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CSD2009-00006 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2005-08399-C02-02 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2008-05284-C02-02 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2008-00642-E/C Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BFU2008-01078 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2009/SGR-1106
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Nucleic acids research, Vol. 39, Núm. 14 (August 2011) , p. 5866-5878, ISSN 1362-4962

DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkr158
PMID: 21450808

13 p, 1.7 MB

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