1887

Abstract

The RecA protein is one of the best-studied enzymes, but less is understood about how RecA homologues of other species are similar to or different from the RecA. In the Gram-negative pathogen (the gonococcus; Gc), the causative agent of gonorrhoea, RecA is involved in DNA transformation, pilin antigenic variation, and DNA repair. By expressing the genes from Gc and under control of regulatory sequences in , the authors have shown that the Gc RecA fully complements an mutant for homologous recombination, but only partially complements for survival to DNA damage. By expressing similar constructs in Gc, it was shown that the RecA complements for pilin antigenic variation, partially complements for DNA transformation, but does not complement for survival to DNA damage, suggesting that species-specific interactions are important for DNA repair, but not for homologous recombination. Co-expression of the and genes in Gc suggests that in this heterologous system RecX modulates RecA-mediated processes.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-6-1821
2002-06-01
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/148/6/1481821a.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-6-1821&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Amundsen S. K., Taylor A. F., Smith G. R. 2000; The RecD subunit of the Escherichia coli RecBCD enzyme inhibits RecA loading, homologous recombination, and DNA repair. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97:7399–7404 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Bachmann B. J. 1972; Pedigrees of some mutant strains of Escherichia coli K-12. Bacteriol Rev 36:525–557
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Black C. G., Fyfe J. A. M., Davies J. K. 1998; Absence of an SOS-like system in Neisseria gonorrhoeae . Gene 208:61–66 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Chang A. C., Cohen S. N. 1978; Construction and characterization of amplifiable multicopy DNA cloning vehicles derived from the P15A cryptic miniplasmid. J Bacteriol 134:1141–1156
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Chaussee M. S., Wilson J., Hill S. A. 1999; Characterization of the recD gene of Neisseria gonorrhoeae MS11 and the effect of recD inactivation on pilin variation and DNA transformation. Microbiology 145:389–400 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Churchill J. J., Anderson D. G., Kowalczykowski S. C. 1999; The RecBC enzyme loads RecA protein onto ssDNA asymmetrically and independently of chi, resulting in constitutive recombination activation. Genes Dev 13:901–911 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Cox M. M. 1993; Relating biochemistry to biology: how the recombinational repair function of RecA protein is manifested in its molecular properties. Bioessays 15:617–623 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Csonka L. N., Clark A. J. 1979; Deletions generated by the transposon Tn 10 in the srl recA region of the Escherichia coli K-12 chromosome. Genetics 93:321–343
    [Google Scholar]
  9. De Mot R., Schoofs G., Vanderleyden J. 1994; A putative regulatory gene downstream of recA is conserved in Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Nucleic Acids Res 22:1313–1314 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  10. De Vries J., Wackernagel W. 1992; Recombination and UV resistance of Escherichia coli with the cloned recA and recBCD genes of Serratia marcescens and Proteus mirabilis : evidence for an advantage of intraspecies combination of P. mirabilis RecA protein and RecBCD enzyme. J Gen Microbiol 138:31–38 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  11. DeWitt S. K., Adelberg E. A. 1962; The occurrence of a genetic transposition in a strain of E. coli . Genetics 47:577–585
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Drlica K., Zhao X. 1997; DNA gyrase, topoisomerase IV, and the 4-quinolones. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 61:377–392
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Dybvig K., Zhao X. 1997; Cloning and DNA sequence of a mycoplasmal recA gene. J Bacteriol 174:778–784
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Fyfe J. A., Davies J. K. 1990; Nucleotide sequence and expression in Escherichia coli of the recA gene of Neisseria gonorrhoeae . Gene 93:151–156 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Goodman H. J., Parker J. R., Southern J. A., Woods D. R. 1987; Cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of a recA -like gene from Bacteroides fragilis . Gene 58:265–271 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Haas R., Meyer T. F. 1986; The repertoire of silent pilus genes in Neisseria gonorrhoeae : evidence for gene conversion. Cell 44:107–115 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Hagblom P., Segal E., Billyard E., So M. 1985; Intragenic recombination leads to pilus antigenic variation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae . Nature 315:156–158 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Hill S. A. 2000; Neisseria gonorrhoeae recJ mutants show defects in recombinational repair of alkylated bases and UV-induced pyrimidine dimers. Mol Gen Genet 264:268–275 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Hill S. A., Grant C. C. R. 2002; Recombinational error and deletion formation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae : a role for RecJ in the production of pilE L deletions. Mol Genet Genomics 266:962–972 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Howell-Adams B., Seifert H. S. 2000; Molecular models accounting for the gene conversion reactions mediating gonococcal pilin antigenic variation. Mol Microbiol 22:509–522
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Howell-Adams B., Wainwright L. A., Seifert H. S. 1996; The size and position of heterologous insertions in a silent locus differentially affect pilin recombination in Neisseria gonorrhoeae . Mol Microbiol 22:509–522 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Kellogg D. S. Jr, Peacock W. L., Deacon W. E., Brown L., Pirkle C. I. 1963; Neisseria gonorrhoeae . I. Virulence genetically linked to colonial variation. J Bacteriol 85:1274–1279
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Kenyon C. J., Walker G. C. 1980; DNA-damaging agents stimulate gene expression at specific loci in Escherichia coli . Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 77:2819–2823 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Koomey J. M., Falkow S. 1987; Cloning of the recA gene of Neisseria gonorrhoea e and construction of gonococcal recA mutants. J Bacteriol 169:790–795
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Koomey M., Gotschlich E. C., Robbins K., Bergstrom S., Swanson J. 1987; Effects of recA mutations on pilus antigenic variation and phase transitions in Neisseria gonorrhoeae . Genetics 117:391–398
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Kowalczykowski S. C., Dixon D. A., Eggleston A. K., Lauder S. D., Rehrauer W. M. 1994; Biochemistry of homologous recombination in Escherichia coli . Microbiol Rev 94:401–465
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Kushner S. R., Nagaishi H., Templin A., Clark A. J. 1971; Genetic recombination in Escherichia coli : the role of exonuclease I. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 68:824–827 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Lloyd R. G., Thomas A. 1983; On the nature of the RecBC and RecF pathways of conjugal recombination in Escherichia coli . Mol Gen Genet 190:156–161 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Long C. D., Madraswala R. N., Seifert H. S. 1998; Comparisons between colony phase variation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae FA1090 and pilus, pilin, and S-pilin expression. Infect Immun 66:1918–1927
    [Google Scholar]
  30. McDaniel L. S., Rogers L. H., Hill W. E. 1978; Survival of recombination-deficient mutants of Escherichia coli during incubation with nalidixic acid. J Bacteriol 134:1195–1198
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Mehr I. J., Seifert H. S. 1998; Differential roles of homologous recombination pathways in Neisseria gonorrhoeae pilin antigenic variation, DNA transformation, and DNA repair. Mol Microbiol 30:697–710 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Mehr I. J., Long C. D., Serkin C. D., Seifert H. S. 2000; A homologue of the recombination-dependent growth gene, rdgC , is involved in gonococcal pilin antigenic variation. Genetics 152:523–532
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Miller J. H. 1992 A Short Course in Molecular Genetics Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory;
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Miller R. V., Kokjohn T. A. 1990; General microbiology of recA : environmental and evolutionary significance. Annu Rev Microbiol 44:365–394 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Mount D. W., Low K. B., Edmiston S. J. 1972; Dominant mutations ( lex) in Escherichia coli K-12 which affect radiation sensitivity and frequency of ultraviolet light-induced mutations. J Bacteriol 112:886–893
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Papavinasasundaram K. G., Movahedzadeh F., Keer J. T., Stoker N. G., Colston M. J., Davis E. O. 1997; Mycobacterial recA is cotranscribed with a potential regulatory gene called recX . Mol Microbiol 24:141–153 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Papavinasasundaram K. G., Colston M. J., Davis E. O. 1998; Construction and complementation of a recA deletion mutant of Mycobacterium smegmatis reveals that the intein in Mycobacerium tuberculosis recA does not affect RecA function. Mol Microbiol 30:525–534 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Roe B. A., Clifton S., Dyer D. W. 1997; Gonococcal Genome Sequencing Project. http://www.genome.ou.edu/gono.html
  39. Sambrook J., Fritsch E. F., Maniatis T. 1989 Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press;
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Sano Y. 1993; Role of the recA -related gene adjacent to the recA gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa . J Bacteriol 175:2451–2454
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Seifert H. S. 1997; Insertionally inactivated and inducible recA alleles for use in Neisseria . Gene 188:215–220 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Seifert H. S., Ajioka R. S., Paruchuri D., Heffron F., So M. 1990; Shuttle mutagenesis of Neisseria gonorrhoeae : pilin null mutations lower DNA transformation competence. J Bacteriol 172:40–46
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Seifert H. S., Wright C. J., Jerse A. E., Cohen M. S., Cannon J. G. 1994; Multiple gonococcal pilin antigenic variants are produced during experimental human infections. J Clin Invest 93:2744–2749 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Skaar E. P., Lazio M. P., Seifert H. S. 2002; Roles of the recJ and recN genes in homologous recombination and DNA repair pathways of Neisseria gonorrhoeae . J Bacteriol 184:919–927 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Sparling P. F. 1966; Genetic transformation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to streptomycin resistance. J Bacteriol 92:1364–1371
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Stohl E. A., Seifert H. S. 2001; The recX gene potentiates homologous recombination in Neisseria gonorrhoea e. Mol Microbiol 40:1301–1310 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Story R. M., Weber I. T., Steitz T. A. 1992; The structure of the E. coli recA protein monomer and polymer. Nature 355:318–325 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Swanson J., Kraus S. J., Gotschlich E. C. 1971; Studies on gonococcus infection. I. Pili and zones of adhesion: their relation to gonococcal growth patterns. J Exp Med 134:886–906 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Swanson J., Bergstrom S., Robbins K., Barrera O., Corwin D., Koomey J. M. 1986; Gene conversion involving the pilin structural gene correlates with pilus+ in equilibrium with pilus changes in Neisseria gonorrhoeae . Cell 47:267–276 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Swanson J., Robbins K., Barrera O., Corwin D., Boslego J., Ciak J., Blake M., Koomey J. M. 1987; Gonococcal pilin variants in experimental gonorrhea. J Exp Med 165:1344–1357 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Vierling S., Weber T., Wohlleben W., Muth G. 2000; Transcriptional and mutational analyses of the Streptomyces lividans recX gene and its interference with RecA activity. J Bacteriol 182:4005–4011 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Virji M., Heckels J. E. 1983; Antigenic cross-reactivity of Neisseria pili: investigations with type- and species-specific monoclonal antibodies. J Gen Microbiol 129:2761–2768
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Walker G. C. others 1996; The SOS response of Escherichia coli . In Escherichia coli and Salmonella: Cellular and Molecular Biology pp 1400–1416 Edited by Neidhardt F. C. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology;
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Yang M. K., Chou M. E., Yang Y. C. 2001; Molecular characterization and expression of the recX gene of Xanthomonas campestris pv. citri. Curr Microbiol 42:257–263
    [Google Scholar]
  55. Zaitsev E., Alexseyev A., Lanzov V., Satin L., Clark A. J. 1994; Nucleotide sequence between recA and alaSp in E. coli K12 and the sequence change in four recA mutations. Mutat Res 323:173–177 [CrossRef]
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-6-1821
Loading
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-6-1821
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error