TY - JOUR
T1 - Auto-regulation of DNA degrading bacteriocins
T2 - Molecular and ecological aspects
AU - Ghazaryan, Lusine
AU - Soares, M. Ines M.
AU - Gillor, Osnat
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health grant R01A1064588-01A2 and the Israeli Ministry for Science and Technology: Slovenia-Israel Research Cooperation. We are grateful to Prof D. Zgur-Bertok and Prof C. Kleanthous for their helpful comments and suggestions.
PY - 2014/1/1
Y1 - 2014/1/1
N2 - Colicins, proteinaceous antibiotics produced by Escherichia coli, specifically target competing strains killing them through one of a variety of mechanisms, including pore formation and nucleic acid degradation. The genes encoding colicins display a unique form of expression, which is tightly regulated, involving the DNA damage response regulatory system (the SOS response system), confined to stressful conditions and released by degradation of the producing cell. Given their lethal nature, colicin production has evolved a sophisticated system for repression and expression. While exploring the expression of 13 colicins we identified a novel means of induction unique to strains that kill by DNA degradation: these colicinogenic strains mildly poison themselves inflicting DNA damage that induces their DNA repair system (the SOS system), and their own expression. We established that among the four known DNase colicins (E2, E7, E8 and E9), three act to induce their own production. Using different stresses we show that this form of self-regulation entails high cost when growth conditions are not optimal, and is not carried out by individual cells but is a population-mediated trait. We discuss this novel form of colicins' regulation and expression, and its possible molecular mechanism and evolutionary implications.
AB - Colicins, proteinaceous antibiotics produced by Escherichia coli, specifically target competing strains killing them through one of a variety of mechanisms, including pore formation and nucleic acid degradation. The genes encoding colicins display a unique form of expression, which is tightly regulated, involving the DNA damage response regulatory system (the SOS response system), confined to stressful conditions and released by degradation of the producing cell. Given their lethal nature, colicin production has evolved a sophisticated system for repression and expression. While exploring the expression of 13 colicins we identified a novel means of induction unique to strains that kill by DNA degradation: these colicinogenic strains mildly poison themselves inflicting DNA damage that induces their DNA repair system (the SOS system), and their own expression. We established that among the four known DNase colicins (E2, E7, E8 and E9), three act to induce their own production. Using different stresses we show that this form of self-regulation entails high cost when growth conditions are not optimal, and is not carried out by individual cells but is a population-mediated trait. We discuss this novel form of colicins' regulation and expression, and its possible molecular mechanism and evolutionary implications.
KW - Auto-regulation
KW - Bacteriocin
KW - Colicin
KW - DNase
KW - SOS system
KW - Stress response
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84900792280&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10482-014-0136-1
DO - 10.1007/s10482-014-0136-1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84900792280
SN - 0003-6072
VL - 105
SP - 823
EP - 834
JO - Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology
JF - Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, International Journal of General and Molecular Microbiology
IS - 5
ER -