Mechanisms of DNA Uptake by Naturally Competent Bacteria

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Abstract

Transformation is a widespread mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria. DNA uptake to the periplasmic compartment requires a DNA-uptake pilus and the DNA-binding protein ComEA. In the gram-negative bacteria, DNA is first pulled toward the outer membrane by retraction of the pilus and then taken up by binding to periplasmic ComEA, acting as a Brownian ratchet to prevent backward diffusion. A similar mechanism probably operates in the gram-positive bacteria as well, but these systems have been less well characterized. Transport, defined as movement of a single strand of transforming DNA to the cytosol, requires the channel protein ComEC. Although less is understood about this process, it may be driven by proton symport. In this review we also describe various phenomena that are coordinated with the expression of competence for transformation, such as fratricide, the kin-discriminatory killing of neighboring cells, and competence-mediated growth arrest.

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STUDIES ON THE CHEMICAL NATURE OF THE SUBSTANCE INDUCING TRANSFORMATION OF PNEUMOCOCCAL TYPES

Oswald Avery, Colin Macleod, Maclyn McCarty (1944)

1. From Type III pneumococci a biologically active fraction has been isolated in highly purified form which in exceedingly minute amounts is capable under appropriate cultural conditions of inducing the transformation of unencapsulated R variants of Pneumococcus Type II into fully encapsulated cells of the same specific type as that of the heat-killed microorganisms from which the inducing material was recovered. 2. Methods for the isolation and purification of the active transforming material are described. 3. The data obtained by chemical, enzymatic, and serological analyses together with the results of preliminary studies by electrophoresis, ultracentrifugation, and ultraviolet spectroscopy indicate that, within the limits of the methods, the active fraction contains no demonstrable protein, unbound lipid, or serologically reactive polysaccharide and consists principally, if not solely, of a highly polymerized, viscous form of desoxyribonucleic acid. 4. Evidence is presented that the chemically induced alterations in cellular structure and function are predictable, type-specific, and transmissible in series. The various hypotheses that have been advanced concerning the nature of these changes are reviewed.

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Direct mechanical measurements of the elasticity of single DNA molecules by using magnetic beads

S. Smith, L Finzi, C Bustamante (1992)

Single DNA molecules were chemically attached by one end to a glass surface and by their other end to a magnetic bead. Equilibrium positions of the beads were observed in an optical microscope while the beads were acted on by known magnetic and hydrodynamic forces. Extension versus force curves were obtained for individual DNA molecules at three different salt concentrations with forces between 10(-14) and 10(-11) newtons. Deviations from the force curves predicted by the freely jointed chain model suggest that DNA has significant local curvature in solution. Ethidium bromide and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole had little effect on the elastic response of the molecules, but their extent of intercalation was directly measured. Conversely, the effect of bend-inducing cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) was large and supports the hypothesis of natural curvature in DNA.

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Bacterial transformation: distribution, shared mechanisms and divergent control.

Calum Johnston, Bernard Martin, Gwennaele Fichant … (2014)

Natural bacterial transformation involves the internalization and chromosomal integration of DNA and has now been documented in ~80 species. Recent advances have established that phylogenetically distant species share conserved uptake and processing proteins but differ in the inducing cues and regulatory mechanisms that are involved. In this Review, we highlight divergent and common principles that govern the transformation process in different bacteria. We discuss how this cumulative knowledge enables the prediction of new transformable species and supports the idea that the main role of internalized DNA is in the generation of genetic diversity or in chromosome repair rather than in nutrition.

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Author and article information

Journal

Title: Annual Review of Genetics

Abbreviated Title: Annu. Rev. Genet.

Publisher: Annual Reviews

ISSN (Print): 0066-4197

ISSN (Electronic): 1545-2948

Publication date Created: December 03 2019

Publication date (Print): December 03 2019

Volume: 53

Issue: 1

Pages: 217-237

Affiliations

[1 ]Public Health Research Institute, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA;

[2 ]Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Article

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-genet-112618-043641

PubMed ID: 31433955

SO-VID: 4d85737e-d9d3-449a-aa0e-3b29b5a64dd9

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