Target site recognition by a diversity-generating retroelement.
| Autor: | Huatao Guo, Longping V Tse, Angela W Nieh, Elizabeth Czornyj, Steven Williams, Sabrina Oukil, Vincent B Liu, Jeff F Miller |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2011 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | PLoS Genetics, Vol 7, Iss 12, p e1002414 (2011) |
| Druh dokumentu: | article |
| ISSN: | 1553-7390 1553-7404 |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002414 |
| Popis: | Diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) are in vivo sequence diversification machines that are widely distributed in bacterial, phage, and plasmid genomes. They function to introduce vast amounts of targeted diversity into protein-encoding DNA sequences via mutagenic homing. Adenine residues are converted to random nucleotides in a retrotransposition process from a donor template repeat (TR) to a recipient variable repeat (VR). Using the Bordetella bacteriophage BPP-1 element as a prototype, we have characterized requirements for DGR target site function. Although sequences upstream of VR are dispensable, a 24 bp sequence immediately downstream of VR, which contains short inverted repeats, is required for efficient retrohoming. The inverted repeats form a hairpin or cruciform structure and mutational analysis demonstrated that, while the structure of the stem is important, its sequence can vary. In contrast, the loop has a sequence-dependent function. Structure-specific nuclease digestion confirmed the existence of a DNA hairpin/cruciform, and marker coconversion assays demonstrated that it influences the efficiency, but not the site of cDNA integration. Comparisons with other phage DGRs suggested that similar structures are a conserved feature of target sequences. Using a kanamycin resistance determinant as a reporter, we found that transplantation of the IMH and hairpin/cruciform-forming region was sufficient to target the DGR diversification machinery to a heterologous gene. In addition to furthering our understanding of DGR retrohoming, our results suggest that DGRs may provide unique tools for directed protein evolution via in vivo DNA diversification. |
| Databáze: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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