This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
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 Parsons, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Rood, J. I.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Parsons, J. A.
Right arrow Articles by Rood, J. I.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, November 2007, p. 7782-7790, Vol. 189, No. 21
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00783-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

TcpA, an FtsK/SpoIIIE Homolog, Is Essential for Transfer of the Conjugative Plasmid pCW3 in Clostridium perfringens{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Jennifer A. Parsons,1 Trudi L. Bannam,1 Rodney J. Devenish,2 and Julian I. Rood1*

Departments of Microbiology,1 Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia2

Received 20 May 2007/ Accepted 4 August 2007

The conjugative tetracycline resistance plasmid pCW3 is the paradigm conjugative plasmid in the anaerobic gram-positive pathogen Clostridium perfringens. Two closely related FtsK/SpoIIIE homologs, TcpA and TcpB, are encoded on pCW3, which is significant since FtsK domains are found in coupling proteins of gram-negative conjugation systems. To develop an understanding of the mechanism of conjugative transfer in C. perfringens, we determined the role of these proteins in the conjugation process. Mutation and complementation analysis was used to show that the tcpA gene was essential for the conjugative transfer of pCW3 and that the tcpB gene was not required for transfer. Furthermore, complementation of a pCW3{Delta}tcpA mutant with divergent tcpA homologs provided experimental evidence that all of the known conjugative plasmids from C. perfringens use a similar transfer mechanism. Functional genetic analysis of the TcpA protein established the essential role in conjugative transfer of its Walker A and Walker B ATP-binding motifs and its FtsK-like RAAG motif. It is postulated that TcpA is the essential DNA translocase or coupling protein encoded by pCW3 and as such represents a key component of the unique conjugation process in C. perfringens.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Victoria 3800, Australia. Phone: (613) 9905-4825. Fax: (613) 9905-4811. E-mail: julian.rood{at}med.monash.edu.au

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 24 August 2007.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

Journal of Bacteriology, November 2007, p. 7782-7790, Vol. 189, No. 21
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00783-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Lyras, D., Adams, V., Ballard, S. A., Teng, W. L., Howarth, P. M., Crellin, P. K., Bannam, T. L., Songer, J. G., Rood, J. I. (2009). tISCpe8, an IS1595-Family Lincomycin Resistance Element Located on a Conjugative Plasmid in Clostridium perfringens. J. Bacteriol. 191: 6345-6351 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Smyth, D. S., Robinson, D. A. (2009). Integrative and Sequence Characteristics of a Novel Genetic Element, ICE6013, in Staphylococcus aureus. J. Bacteriol. 191: 5964-5975 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Andeer, P. F., Stahl, D. A., Bruce, N. C., Strand, S. E. (2009). Lateral Transfer of Genes for Hexahydro-1,3,5-Trinitro-1,3,5-Triazine (RDX) Degradation. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 3258-3262 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Steen, J. A., Bannam, T. L., Teng, W. L., Devenish, R. J., Rood, J. I. (2009). The Putative Coupling Protein TcpA Interacts with Other pCW3-Encoded Proteins To Form an Essential Part of the Conjugation Complex. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2926-2933 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Harry, K. H., Zhou, R., Kroos, L., Melville, S. B. (2009). Sporulation and Enterotoxin (CPE) Synthesis Are Controlled by the Sporulation-Specific Sigma Factors SigE and SigK in Clostridium perfringens. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2728-2742 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Miyamoto, K., Li, J., Sayeed, S., Akimoto, S., McClane, B. A. (2008). Sequencing and Diversity Analyses Reveal Extensive Similarities between Some Epsilon-Toxin-Encoding Plasmids and the pCPF5603 Clostridium perfringens Enterotoxin Plasmid. J. Bacteriol. 190: 7178-7188 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Teng, W. L., Bannam, T. L., Parsons, J. A., Rood, J. I. (2008). Functional Characterization and Localization of the TcpH Conjugation Protein from Clostridium perfringens. J. Bacteriol. 190: 5075-5086 [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»