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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2007, p. 761-771, Vol. 189, No. 3
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01327-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Novel Type IV Secretion System Involved in Propagation of Genomic Islands

Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Nuffield Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Oxford, OX3 9DU Oxford, United Kingdom,¹ MRC Functional Genetics Unit, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, OX1 3PT Oxford, United Kingdom,² Departments of Zoology and Statistics, University of Oxford, OX1 3TG Oxford, United Kingdom,³ Department of Pathology, University of Oxford, OX3 9DU Oxford, United Kingdom,⁴ Molecular Infectious Diseases Group, The Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, OX3 9DS Oxford, United Kingdom⁵

Received 21 August 2006/ Accepted 10 November 2006

Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) mediate horizontal gene transfer, thus contributing to genome plasticity, evolution of infectious pathogens, and dissemination of antibiotic resistance and other virulence traits. A gene cluster of the Haemophilus influenzae genomic island ICEHin1056 has been identified as a T4SS involved in the propagation of genomic islands. This T4SS is novel and evolutionarily distant from the previously described systems. Mutation analysis showed that inactivation of key genes of this system resulted in a loss of phenotypic traits provided by a T4SS. Seven of 10 mutants with a mutation in this T4SS did not express the type IV secretion pilus. Correspondingly, disruption of the genes resulted in up to 100,000-fold reductions in conjugation frequencies compared to those of the parent strain. Moreover, the expression of this T4SS was found to be positively regulated by one of its components, the tfc24 gene. We concluded that this gene cluster represents a novel family of T4SSs involved in propagation of genomic islands.

Published ahead of print on 22 November 2006.

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