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Phase variation of a Type IIG restriction-modification enzyme alters site-specific methylation patterns and gene expression in Campylobacter jejuni strain NCTC11168

Anjum, Awais; Kelly, Brathwaite; Aidley, Jack B; Connerton, Phillippa L.; Cummings, Nicola J; Parkhill, Julian; Connerton, Ian F.; Bayliss, Christopher D

Authors

Awais Anjum

Brathwaite Kelly

Jack B Aidley

Phillippa L. Connerton

Nicola J Cummings

Julian Parkhill

IAN CONNERTON IAN.CONNERTON@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Northern Foods Professor of Food Safety

Christopher D Bayliss



Abstract

Phase-variable restriction-modification systems are a feature of a diverse range of bacterial species. Stochastic, reversible switches in expression of the methyltransferase produces variation in methylation of specific sequences. Phase-variable methylation by both Type I and Type III methyltransferases is associated with altered gene expression and phenotypic variation. One phase-variable gene of Campylobacter jejuni encodes a homologue of an unusual Type IIG restriction-modification system in which the endonuclease and methyltransferase are encoded by a single gene. Using both inhibition of restriction and PacBio-derived methylome analyses of mutants and phase-variants, the cj0031c allele in C. jejuni strain NCTC11168 was demonstrated to specifically methylate adenine in 5?CCCGA and 5?CCTGA sequences. Alterations in the levels of specific transcripts were detected using RNA-Seq in phase-variants and mutants of cj0031c but these changes did not correlate with observed differences in phenotypic behaviour. Alterations in restriction of phage growth were also associated with phase variation (PV) of cj0031c and correlated with presence of sites in the genomes of these phages. We conclude that PV of a Type IIG restriction-modification system causes changes in site-specific methylation patterns and gene expression patterns that may indirectly change adaptive traits.

Citation

Anjum, A., Kelly, B., Aidley, J. B., Connerton, P. L., Cummings, N. J., Parkhill, J., …Bayliss, C. D. (2016). Phase variation of a Type IIG restriction-modification enzyme alters site-specific methylation patterns and gene expression in Campylobacter jejuni strain NCTC11168. Nucleic Acids Research, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw019

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 18, 2016
Deposit Date Jan 28, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Nucleic Acids Research
Print ISSN 0305-1048
Electronic ISSN 0305-1048
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw019
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/772345
Publisher URL http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/gkw019?

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