This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Belhocine, K.
Right arrow Articles by Cousineau, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Belhocine, K.
Right arrow Articles by Cousineau, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2005, p. 930-939, Vol. 187, No. 3
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.3.930-939.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Conjugative Transfer of the Lactococcus lactis Chromosomal Sex Factor Promotes Dissemination of the Ll.LtrB Group II Intron

Kamila Belhocine,1 Karen K. Yam,1 and Benoit Cousineau1*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada1

Received 22 July 2004/ Accepted 25 October 2004

The Ll.LtrB group II intron from the low-G+C gram-positive bacterium Lactococcus lactis was the first bacterial group II intron shown to splice and mobilize in vivo. This retroelement interrupts the relaxase gene (ltrB) of three L. lactis conjugative elements: plasmids pRS01 and pAH90 and the chromosomal sex factor. Conjugative transfer of a plasmid harboring a segment of the pRS01 conjugative plasmid including the Ll.LtrB intron allows dissemination of Ll.LtrB among L. lactis strains and lateral transfer of this retroelement from L. lactis to Enterococcus faecalis. Here we report the dissemination of the Ll.LtrB group II intron among L. lactis strains following conjugative transfer of the native chromosomally embedded L. lactis sex factor. We demonstrated that Ll.LtrB dissemination is highly variable and often more efficient from this integrative and conjugative element than from an engineered conjugative plasmid. Cotransfer among L. lactis strains of both Ll.LtrB-containing elements, the conjugative plasmid and the sex factor, was detected and shown to be synergistic. Moreover, following their concurrent transfer, both mobilizable elements supported the spread of their respective copies of the Ll.LtrB intron. Our findings explain the unusually high efficiency of Ll.LtrB mobility observed following conjugation of intron-containing plasmids.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: McGill University, Lyman Duff Medical Building, 3775 University St., Montréal, Québec, Canada H3A 2B4. Phone: (514) 398-8929. Fax: (514) 398-7052. E-mail: benoit.cousineau{at}mcgill.ca.

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2005, p. 930-939, Vol. 187, No. 3
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.3.930-939.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Tourasse, N. J., Kolsto, A.-B. (2008). Survey of group I and group II introns in 29 sequenced genomes of the Bacillus cereus group: insights into their spread and evolution. Nucleic Acids Res 36: 4529-4548 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Belhocine, K., Mak, A. B., Cousineau, B. (2007). Trans-splicing of the Ll.LtrB group II intron in Lactococcus lactis. Nucleic Acids Res 35: 2257-2268 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nisa-Martinez, R., Jimenez-Zurdo, J. I., Martinez-Abarca, F., Munoz-Adelantado, E., Toro, N. (2007). Dispersion of the RmInt1 group II intron in the Sinorhizobium meliloti genome upon acquisition by conjugative transfer. Nucleic Acids Res 35: 214-222 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Plante, I., Cousineau, B. (2006). Restriction for gene insertion within the Lactococcus lactis Ll.LtrB group II intron. RNA 12: 1980-1992 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»