This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Staddon, J. H. Articles by Dunny, G. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Staddon, J. H. Articles by Dunny, G. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2004, p. 2393-2401, Vol. 186, No. 8
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.8.2393-2401.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Conserved Target for Group II Intron Insertion in Relaxase Genes of Conjugative Elements of Gram-Positive Bacteria

Jack H. Staddon, Edward M. Bryan, Dawn A. Manias, and Gary M. Dunny^*

Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

Received 4 August 2003/ Accepted 10 December 2003

The lactococcal group II intron Ll.ltrB interrupts the ltrB relaxase gene within a region that encodes a conserved functional domain. Nucleotides essential for the homing of Ll.ltrB into an intronless version of ltrB are found exclusively at positions required to encode amino acids broadly conserved in a family of relaxase proteins of gram-positive bacteria. Two of these relaxase genes, pcfG from the enterococcal plasmid pCF10 and the ORF4 gene in the streptococcal conjugative transposon Tn5252, were shown to support Ll.ltrB insertion into the conserved motif at precisely the site predicted by sequence homology with ltrB. Insertion occurred through a mechanism indistinguishable from retrohoming. Splicing and retention of conjugative function was demonstrated for pCF10 derivatives containing intron insertions. Ll.ltrB targeting of a conserved motif of a conjugative element suggests a mechanism for group II intron dispersal among bacteria. Additional support for this mechanism comes from sequence analysis of the insertion sites of the E.c.I4 family of bacterial group II introns.

Present address: Virologic, Inc., San Francisco, CA 94030.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Belhocine, K., Yam, K. K., Cousineau, B. (2005). Conjugative Transfer of the Lactococcus lactis Chromosomal Sex Factor Promotes Dissemination of the Ll.LtrB Group II Intron. J. Bacteriol. 187: 930-939 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hirt, H., Manias, D. A., Bryan, E. M., Klein, J. R., Marklund, J. K., Staddon, J. H., Paustian, M. L., Kapur, V., Dunny, G. M. (2005). Characterization of the Pheromone Response of the Enterococcus faecalis Conjugative Plasmid pCF10: Complete Sequence and Comparative Analysis of the Transcriptional and Phenotypic Responses of pCF10-Containing Cells to Pheromone Induction. J. Bacteriol. 187: 1044-1054 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Deocaris, C. C., Kaul, S. C., Taira, K., Wadhwa, R. (2004). Emerging Technologies: Trendy RNA Tools for Aging Research. J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 59: B771-B783 [Abstract] [Full Text]