Genetic evidence of protein transfer during bacterial conjugation

Antimicrobial resistance: A global emerging threat to public health systems

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) became in the last two decades a global threat to public health systems in the world. Since the antibiotic era, with the discovery of the first antibiotics that provided consistent health benefits to human medicine, the misuse and abuse of antimicrobials in veterinary and human medicine have accelerated the growing worldwide phenomenon of AMR. This article presents an extensive overview of the epidemiology of AMR, with a focus on the link between food producing-animals and humans and on the legal framework and policies currently implemented at the EU level and globally. The ways of responding to the AMR challenges foresee an array of measures that include: designing more effective preventive measures at farm level to reduce the use of antimicrobials; development of novel antimicrobials; strengthening of AMR surveillance system in animal and human populations; better knowledge of the ecology of resistant bacteria and resistant genes; increased awareness of stakeholders on the prudent use of antibiotics in animal productions and clinical arena; and the public health and environmental consequences of AMR. Based on the global nature of AMR and considering that bacterial resistance does not recognize barriers and can spread to people and the environment, the article ends with specific recommendations structured around a holistic approach and targeted to different stakeholders.

Horizontal transfer of DNA methylation patterns into bacterial chromosomes

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is the non-inherited acquisition of novel DNA sequences. HGT is common and important in bacteria because it enables the rapid generation of new phenotypes such as antibiotic resistance. Here we show that in vivo and in vitro DNA methylation patterns can be horizontally transferred into bacterial chromosomes to program cell phenotypes. The experiments were performed using a synthetic system in Escherichia coli where different DNA methylation patterns within the cis-regulatory sequence of the agn43 gene turn on or off a fluorescent reporter (CFP). With this system we demonstrated that DNA methylation patterns not only accompany the horizontal transfer of genes into the bacterial cytoplasm but can be transferred into chromosomes by: (i) bacteriophage P1 transduction; and (ii) transformation of extracellular synthetic DNA. We also modified the experimental system by replacing CFP with the SgrS small RNA, which regulates glucose and methyl α-D-glucoside uptake, and showed that horizontally acquired DNA methylation patterns can increase or decrease cell fitness. That is, horizontally acquired DNA methylation patterns can result in the selection for and against cells that have HGT. Findings from these proof-of-concept experiments have applications in synthetic biology and potentially broad implications for bacterial adaptation and evolution.

Bacterial conjugation in the cytoplasm of mouse cells

Intracellular pathogenic organisms such as salmonellae and shigellae are able to evade the effects of many antibiotics because the drugs are not able to penetrate the plasma membrane. In addition, these bacteria may be able to transfer genes within cells while protected from the action of drugs. The primary mode by which virulence and antibiotic resistance genes are spread is bacterial conjugation. Salmonellae have been shown to be competent for conjugation in the vacuoles of cultured mammalian cells. We now show that the conjugation machinery is also functional in the mammalian cytosol. Specially constructed Escherichia coli strains expressing Shigella flexneri plasmid and chromosomal virulence factors for escape from vacuoles and synthesizing the invasin protein from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis to enhance cellular entry were able to enter 3T3 cells and escape from the phagocytic vacuole. One bacterial strain (the donor) of each pair to be introduced sequentially into mammalian cells had a conjugative plasmid. We found that this plasmid could be transferred at high frequency. Conjugation in the cytoplasm of cells may well be a general phenomenon.

A novel relaxase homologue is involved in chromosomal DNA processing for type IV secretion in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The Neisseria gonorrhoeae type IV secretion system secretes chromosomal DNA that acts in natural transformation. To examine the mechanism of DNA processing for secretion, we made mutations in the putative relaxase gene traI and used nucleases to characterize the secreted DNA. The nuclease experiments demonstrated that the secreted DNA is single-stranded and blocked at the 5' end. Mutation of traI identified Tyr93 as required for DNA secretion, while substitution of Tyr201 resulted in intermediate levels of DNA secretion. TraI exhibits features of relaxases, but also has features that are absent in previously characterized relaxases, including an HD phosphohydrolase domain and an N-terminal hydrophobic region. The HD domain residue Asp120 was required for wild-type levels of DNA secretion. Subcellular localization studies demonstrated that the TraI N-terminal region promotes membrane interaction. We propose that Tyr93 initiates DNA processing and Tyr201 is required for termination or acts in DNA binding. Disruption of an inverted-repeat sequence eliminated DNA secretion, suggesting that this sequence may serve as the origin of transfer for chromosomal DNA secretion. The TraI domain architecture, although not previously described, is present in 53 uncharacterized proteins, suggesting that the mechanism of TraI function is a widespread process for DNA donation.

Localization of the plasmid-encoded proteins TraI and MobA in eukaryotic cells

Conjugation mediates gene transfer not only between bacterial species but also from bacteria to yeast, plant, and animal cells. DNA transferred by conjugative plasmids from bacteria to eukaryotes must traverse subcellular membranes in the recipient before the transferred genes can be expressed and inherited. This process is most likely facilitated by putative DNA pilot proteins such as VirD2 of the Agrobacterium tumefaciens Ti plasmid. Here, we test this model as a general feature of trans-kingdom conjugation using the DNA-relaxases TraI and MobA of the IncP and IncQ groups. TraI localized unambiguously and uniformly to the nuclei of both yeast and human cells, whereas MobA displayed a range of subcellular localization patterns. The tendency to localize to the nucleus was not correlated with predicted nuclear localization sequence motifs in either protein, suggesting a lack of stringent requirements for nuclear localizing potential in pilot proteins mediating conjugative DNA transfer to eukaryotes. Further, our results indicate that nuclear localization ability may be more commonly associated with conjugative pilot proteins than previously recognized.

Site-specific recombinase and integrase activities of a conjugative relaxase in recipient cells

Conjugative relaxases are the proteins that initiate bacterial conjugation by a site-specific cleavage of the transferred DNA strand. In vitro, they show strand-transferase activity on single-stranded DNA, which suggests they may also be responsible for recircularization of the transferred DNA. In this work, we show that TrwC, the relaxase of plasmid R388, is fully functional in the recipient cell, as shown by complementation of an R388 trwC mutant in the recipient. TrwC transport to the recipient is also observed in the absence of DNA transfer, although it still requires the conjugative coupling protein. In addition to its role in conjugation, TrwC is able to catalyze site-specific recombination between two origin of transfer (oriT) copies. Mutations that abolish TrwC DNA strand-transferase activity also abolish oriT-specific recombination. A plasmid containing two oriT copies resident in the recipient cell undergoes recombination when a TrwC-piloted DNA is conjugatively transferred into it. Finally, we show TrwC-dependent integration of the transferred DNA into a resident oriT copy in the recipient cell. Our results indicate that a conjugative relaxase is active once in the recipient cell, where it performs the nicking and strand-transfer reactions that would be required to recircularize the transferred DNA. This TrwC site-specific integration activity in recipient cells may lead to future biotechnological applications.

Activities of virE1 and the VirE1 secretion chaperone in export of the multifunctional VirE2 effector via an Agrobacterium type IV secretion pathway

Agrobacterium tumefaciens uses a type IV secretion system to deliver oncogenic nucleoprotein particles and effector proteins, such as the multifunctional VirE2 protein, to plant cells. In this study, we examined the function of virE1 and its product, the VirE1 secretion chaperone, in mediating VirE2 export. A nonpolar virE1 null mutant accumulated low levels of VirE2, and trans expression of virE1 in this mutant only partially restored VirE2 abundance. Deletion of virE1 did not affect transcription but decreased translation of virE2, as shown by analysis of lacZ transcriptional and translational fusions. VirE2 was stable for a prolonged period, more than 6 h, when it was expressed in cis with virE1, and it exhibited half-lives of about 2 h when it was expressed in trans with virE1 and less than 10 min when it was expressed in the absence of virE1, as shown by pulse-chase experiments. VirE1 stabilized VirE2 via an interaction with a domain near the N terminus of VirE2, as shown by analyses of VirE2 truncation and insertion mutants synthesized in A. tumefaciens. VirE1 self-association was demonstrated by using bacteriophage lambda cI repressor fusion and pull-down assays, and evidence of VirE1 homomultimerization in vivo was obtained by native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel filtration chromatography. A putative VirE1-VirE2 complex with a molecular mass of about 70 to 80 kDa was detected by gel filtration chromatography of extracts from wild-type cells, whereas higher-order VirE2 complexes or aggregates were detected in extracts from a virE1 mutant. Taken together, our findings show that virE1 contributes in several ways to VirE2 export:(i) virE1 regulates efficient virE2 translation in the context of expression from the native P(virE) promoter; (ii) the VirE1 secretion chaperone stabilizes VirE2, most probably via an interaction with an N-terminal domain; and (iii) VirE1 forms a VirE1-VirE2 complex with a predicted 2:1 stoichiometry that inhibits assembly of higher-order VirE2 complexes or aggregates.

Coevolutionary networks: a novel approach to understanding the relationships of humans with the infectious agents

Human organism is interpenetrated by the world of microorganisms, from the conception until the death. This interpenetration involves different levels of interactions between the partners including trophic exchanges, bi-directional cell signaling and gene activation, besides genetic and epigenetic phenomena, and tends towards mutual adaptation and coevolution. Since these processes are critical for the survival of individuals and species, they rely on the existence of a complex organization of adaptive systems aiming at two apparently conflicting purposes: the maintenance of the internal coherence of each partner, and a mutually advantageous coexistence and progressive adaptation between them. Humans possess three adaptive systems: the nervous, the endocrine and the immune system, each internally organized into subsystems functionally connected by intraconnections, to maintain the internal coherence of the system. The three adaptive systems aim at the maintenance of the internal coherence of the organism and are functionally linked by interconnections, in such way that what happens to one is immediately sensed by the others. The different communities of infectious agents that live within the organism are also organized into functional networks. The members of each community are linked by intraconnections, represented by the mutual trophic, metabolic and other influences, while the different infectious communities affect each other through interconnections. Furthermore, by means of its adaptive systems, the organism influences and is influenced by the microbial communities through the existence of transconnections. It is proposed that these highly complex and dynamic networks, involving gene exchange and epigenetic phenomena, represent major coevolutionary forces for humans and microorganisms.

Type IV secretion: intercellular transfer of macromolecules by systems ancestrally related to conjugation machines

Bacterial conjugation systems are highly promiscuous macromolecular transfer systems that impact human health significantly. In clinical settings, conjugation is exceptionally problematic, leading to the rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes and other virulence traits among bacterial populations. Recent work has shown that several pathogens of plants and mammals - Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bordetella pertussis, Helicobacter pylori and Legionella pneumophila - have evolved secretion pathways ancestrally related to conjugation systems for the purpose of delivering effector molecules to eukaryotic target cells. Each of these systems exports distinct DNA or protein substrates to effect a myriad of changes in host cell physiology during infection. Collectively, secretion pathways ancestrally related to bacterial conjugation systems are now referred to as the type IV secretion family. The list of putative type IV family members is increasing rapidly, suggesting that macromolecular transfer by these systems is a widespread phenomenon in nature.

Bacterial type IV secretion: conjugation systems adapted to deliver effector molecules to host cells

Several bacterial pathogens utilize conjugation machines to export effector molecules during infection. Such systems are members of the type IV or 'adapted conjugation' secretion family. The prototypical type IV system is the Agrobacterium tumefaciens T-DNA transfer machine, which delivers oncogenic nucleoprotein particles to plant cells. Other pathogens, including Bordetella pertussis, Legionella pneumophila, Brucellaspp. and Helicobacter pylori, use type IV machines to export effector proteins to the extracellular milieu or the mammalian cell cytosol.

Do antibiotics maintain antibiotic resistance?

Important human pathogens resistant to antibiotics result from the human use of antibiotics. Does this imply that reducing their usage or removing antibiotics from medicine and agriculture will restore the effectiveness of these drugs? The authors argue that resistance evolution and susceptibility evolution are not, in a sense, just different sides of the same coin. Resistance genes acquire new functions and the initial costs of resistance can evolve into advantages. Decreasing drug use might not replace a fundamental change in drug design to avoid the evolution of resistant, and encourage the evolution of susceptible, microorganisms.

New hypotheses on the material nature of horizontally mobile genes

The evolutionary history of organisms is often assumed to be recorded in the structure of important molecules, such as DNA sequences. Whereas the structure of these molecules does sometimes affirm other evidence of ancestry, like fossil records, it sometimes does not. Horizontal gene transfer can distort perceptions of ancestry. Determining the impact of horizontal gene transfer on evolution has been limited by the crude tools available to detect it. Physical and genetic vectors are now known to conduct genes between organisms, even between biological kingdoms of organisms. The effects are being noticed in important molecules preserved in the genomes of organisms. This article will review the systematic bias in using molecular morphology, like DNA sequences, to infer ancestry and how this bias is the unavoidable result of the way that experimental genetics itself evolved. We present the novel hypothesis that genes usually called epigenes, like methylation patterns and prions, are infectiously transferred, sometimes using DNA as a vector, but not as a gene.

Transfer of conjugative plasmids and bacteriophage lambda occurs in the presence of antibiotics that prevent de novo gene expression

Plasmids transferred between bacteria prevented from expressing genes by the presence of bacteriostatic antibiotics. Whereas it has long been known that de novo gene expression is not required in donor cells for conjugation, the observations reported here extend the autonomy of plasmid transfer to the early events of establishment in recipients. In addition, this phenomenon was extended to bacteriophage lambda.

The minimal genome concept

Complete genome sequences are becoming available for a large number of diverse species. Quantification of gene content, of gene family expansion, of orthologous gene conservation, as well as their displacement, are now possible - laying the ground for the estimation of the minimal set of proteins sufficient for cellular life. The consensus of computational results suggests a set close to 300 genes. These predictions will be evaluated by engineering of small bacterial genomes.