DNA methylation is a common epigenetic mark that influences transcriptional regulation, and therefore cellular phenotype, across all domains of life, extending also to bacterial virulence. Both orphan methyltransferases and those from restriction modification systems (RMSs) have been co-opted to regulate virulence epigenetically in many bacteria. However, the potential regulatory role of DNA methylation mediated by archetypal Type I systems in Escherichia coli has never been studied. We demonstrated that removal of DNA methylated mediated by three different Escherichia coli Type I RMSs in three distinct E. coli strains had no detectable effect on gene expression or growth in a screen of 1190 conditions. Additionally, deletion of the Type I RMS EcoUTI in UTI89, a prototypical cystitis strain of E. coli , which led to loss of methylation at >750 sites across the genome, had no detectable effect on virulence in a murine model of ascending urinary tract infection (UTI). Finally, introduction of two heterologous Type I RMSs into UTI89 also resulted in no detectable change in gene expression or growth phenotypes. These results stand in sharp contrast with many reports of RMSs regulating gene expression in other bacteria, leading us to propose the concept of “regulation avoidance” for these E. coli Type I RMSs. We hypothesize that regulation avoidance is a consequence of evolutionary adaptation of both the RMSs and the E. coli genome. Our results provide a clear and (currently) rare example of regulation avoidance for Type I RMSs in multiple strains of E. coli , further study of which may provide deeper insights into the evolution of gene regulation and horizontal gene transfer.
DNA sequence repeats identify numerous Type I restriction‐modification systems that are potential epigenetic regulators controlling phase‐variable regulons; phasevarions