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Journal of Bacteriology, June 2003, p. 3538-3546, Vol. 185, No. 12
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.12.3538-3546.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Relaxed Specificity of the R1162 Nickase: a Model for Evolution of a System for Conjugative Mobilization of Plasmids

Eric C. Becker{dagger} and Richard J. Meyer*

Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712

Received 23 December 2002/ Accepted 26 March 2003

The primary DNA processing protein for conjugative mobilization of the plasmid R1162 is the transesterase MobA, which acts at a unique site on the plasmid, the origin of transfer (oriT). Both MobA and oriT are members of a large family of related elements that are widely distributed among bacteria. Each oriT consists of a highly conserved core and an adjacent region that is required for binding by its cognate MobA. The sequence of the adjacent region is important in determining the specificity of the interaction between the Mob protein and the oriT DNA. However, the R1162 MobA is active on the oriT of pSC101, another naturally occurring plasmid. We show here that MobA can recognize oriTs having different sequences in the adjacent region and, with varying frequencies, can cleave these oriTs at the correct position within the core. Along with the structure of the oriTs themselves, these characteristics suggest a model for the evolution of this group of transfer systems.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712. Phone: (512) 471-3817. Fax: (512) 471-7088. E-mail: rmeyer{at}mail.utexas.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Biology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, Calif.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2003, p. 3538-3546, Vol. 185, No. 12
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.12.3538-3546.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Loftie-Eaton, W., Rawlings, D. E. (2009). Comparative Biology of Two Natural Variants of the IncQ-2 Family Plasmids, pRAS3.1 and pRAS3.2. J. Bacteriol. 191: 6436-6446 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Meyer, R. (2009). The R1162 Mob Proteins Can Promote Conjugative Transfer from Cryptic Origins in the Bacterial Chromosome. J. Bacteriol. 191: 1574-1580 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Brochet, M., Rusniok, C., Couve, E., Dramsi, S., Poyart, C., Trieu-Cuot, P., Kunst, F., Glaser, P. (2008). Shaping a bacterial genome by large chromosomal replacements, the evolutionary history of Streptococcus agalactiae. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 15961-15966 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jandle, S., Meyer, R. (2006). Stringent and Relaxed Recognition of oriT by Related Systems for Plasmid Mobilization: Implications for Horizontal Gene Transfer. J. Bacteriol. 188: 499-506 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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