scholarly journals Cloning and Sequencing of a Genomic Island Found in the Brazilian Purpuric Fever Clone of Haemophilus influenzae Biogroup Aegyptius

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 1927-1938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen McGillivary ◽  
Andrew P. Tomaras ◽  
Eric R. Rhodes ◽  
Luis A. Actis
Keyword(s):  
Haemophilus Influenzae ◽  
Genomic Island ◽  
Erwinia Carotovora ◽  
Hybrid Structure ◽  
Tail Fiber ◽  
Choline Transport ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Brazilian Purpuric Fever

ABSTRACT A genomic island was identified in the Haemophilus influenzae biogroup aegyptius Brazilian purpuric fever (BPF) strain F3031. This island, which was also found in other BPF isolates, could not be detected in non-BPF biogroup aegyptius strains or in nontypeable or typeable H. influenzae strains, with the exception of a region present in the type b Eagan strain. This 34,378-bp island is inserted, in reference to H. influenzae Rd KW20, within a choline transport gene and contains a mosaic structure of Mu-like prophage genes, several hypothetical genes, and genes potentially encoding an Erwinia carotovora carotovoricin Er-like bacteriocin. The product of the tail fiber ORF in the bacteriocin-like region shows a hybrid structure where the C terminus is similar to an H. influenzae phage HP1 tail protein implicating this open reading frame in altering host specificity for a putative bacteriocin. Significant synteny is seen in the entire genomic island with genomic regions from Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi CT18, Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. laumondii TT01, Chromobacterium violaceum, and to a lesser extent Haemophilus ducreyi 35000HP. In a previous work, we isolated several BPF-specific DNA fragments through a genome subtraction procedure, and we have found that a majority of these fragments map to this locus. In addition, several subtracted fragments generated from an independent laboratory by using different but related strains also map to this island. These findings underscore the importance of this BPF-specific chromosomal region in explaining some of the genomic differences between highly invasive BPF strains and non-BPF isolates of biogroup aegyptius.

scholarly journals The Unique Structure of Haemophilus influenzae Protein E Reveals Multiple Binding Sites for Host Factors

2012 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 801-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birendra Singh ◽  
Tamim Al-Jubair ◽  
Matthias Mörgelin ◽  
Marjolein M. Thunnissen ◽  
Kristian Riesbeck
Keyword(s):  
Haemophilus Influenzae ◽  
Disulfide Bridge ◽  
Lung Epithelial Cells ◽  
Binding Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bacterial Surface ◽  
Hydrogen Bonding Pattern ◽  
Functional Regions ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Α Helix

ABSTRACTHaemophilus influenzaeprotein E (PE) is a multifunctional adhesin involved in direct interactions with lung epithelial cells and host proteins, including plasminogen and the extracellular matrix proteins vitronectin and laminin. We recently crystallized PE and successfully collected X-ray diffraction data at 1.8 Å. Here, we solved the structure of a recombinant version of PE and analyzed different functional regions. It is a dimer in solution and in the asymmetric unit of the crystals. The dimer has a structure that resembles a flattened β-barrel. It is, however, not a true β-barrel, as there are differences in both the hydrogen-bonding pattern and the shape. Each monomer consisted of a 6-stranded antiparallel β-sheet with a rigid α-helix at the C terminus tethered to the concave side of the sheet by a disulfide bridge. The laminin/plasminogen binding region (residues 41 to 68) is exposed, while the vitronectin binding region (residues 84 to 108) is partially accessible in the dimer. The dimerized PE explains the simultaneous interaction with laminin and vitronectin. In addition, we found this unique adhesin to be present in many bacterial genera of the familyPasteurellaceaeand also orthologues in other, unrelated species (Enterobacter cloacaeandListeria monocytogenes). Peptides corresponding to the surface-exposed regions PE 24 to 37, PE 74 to 89, and PE 134 to 156 were immunogenic in the mouse. Importantly, these peptide-based antibodies also recognized PE at the bacterial surface. Taken together, our detailed structure of PE explains how this important virulence factor ofH. influenzaesimultaneously interacts with host vitronectin, laminin, or plasminogen, promoting bacterial pathogenesis.

scholarly journals The Essential Human Cytomegalovirus Proteins pUL77 and pUL93 Are Structural Components Necessary for Viral Genome Encapsidation

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (13) ◽  
pp. 5860-5875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Maria Borst ◽  
Rudolf Bauerfeind ◽  
Anne Binz ◽  
Thomas Min Stephan ◽  
Sebastian Neuber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Cytomegalovirus ◽  
Viral Genome ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
Start Codon ◽  
Nuclear Targeting ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Genome Encapsidation ◽  
Insight Into

ABSTRACTSeveral essential viral proteins are proposed to participate in genome encapsidation of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), among them pUL77 and pUL93, which remain largely uncharacterized. To gain insight into their properties, we generated an HCMV mutant expressing a pUL77-monomeric enhanced green fluorescent protein (mGFP) fusion protein and a pUL93-specific antibody. Immunoblotting demonstrated that both proteins are incorporated into capsids and virions. Conversely to data suggesting internal translation initiation sites within the UL93 open reading frame (ORF), we provide evidence that pUL93 synthesis commences at the first start codon. In infected cells, pUL77-mGFP was found in nuclear replication compartments and dot-like structures, colocalizing with capsid proteins. Immunogold labeling of nuclear capsids revealed that pUL77 is present on A, B, and C capsids. Pulldown of pUL77-mGFP revealed copurification of pUL93, indicating interaction between these proteins, which still occurred when capsid formation was prevented. Correct subnuclear distribution of pUL77-mGFP required pUL93 as well as the major capsid protein (and thus probably the presence of capsids), but not the tegument protein pp150 or the encapsidation protein pUL52, demonstrating that pUL77 nuclear targeting occurs independently of the formation of DNA-filled capsids. When pUL77 or pUL93 was missing, generation of unit-length genomes was not observed, and only empty B capsids were produced. Taken together, these results show that pUL77 and pUL93 are capsid constituents needed for HCMV genome encapsidation. Therefore, the task of pUL77 seems to differ from that of its alphaherpesvirus orthologue pUL25, which exerts its function subsequent to genome cleavage-packaging.IMPORTANCEThe essential HCMV proteins pUL77 and pUL93 were suggested to be involved in viral genome cleavage-packaging but are poorly characterized both biochemically and functionally. By producing a monoclonal antibody against pUL93 and generating an HCMV mutant in which pUL77 is fused to a fluorescent protein, we show that pUL77 and pUL93 are capsid constituents, with pUL77 being similarly abundant on all capsid types. Each protein is required for genome encapsidation, as the absence of either pUL77 or pUL93 results in a genome packaging defect with the formation of empty capsids only. This distinguishes pUL77 from its alphaherpesvirus orthologue pUL25, which is enriched on DNA-filled capsids and exerts its function after the viral DNA is packaged. Our data for the first time describe an HCMV mutant with a fluorescent capsid and provide insight into the roles of pUL77 and pUL93, thus contributing to a better understanding of the HCMV encapsidation network.

scholarly journals Saccharomyces cerevisiae ubiquitin-like protein Rub1 conjugates to cullin proteins Rtt101 and Cul3 in vivo

2004 ◽  
Vol 377 (2) ◽  
pp. 459-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose M. LAPLAZA ◽  
Magnolia BOSTICK ◽  
Derek T. SCHOLES ◽  
M. Joan CURCIO ◽  
Judy CALLIS
Keyword(s):  
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Lysine Residue ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
E3 Ligases ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Dependent Modification ◽  
F Box Protein

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the ubiquitin-like protein Rub1p (related to ubiquitin 1 protein) covalently attaches to the cullin protein Cdc53p (cell division cycle 53 protein), a subunit of a class of ubiquitin E3 ligases named SCF (Skp1–Cdc53–F-box protein) complex. We identified Rtt101p (regulator of Ty transposition 101 protein, where Ty stands for transposon of yeast), initially found during a screen for proteins to confer retrotransposition suppression, and Cul3p (cullin 3 protein), a protein encoded by the previously uncharacterized open reading frame YGR003w, as two new in vivo targets for Rub1p conjugation. These proteins show significant identity with Cdc53p and, therefore, are cullin proteins. Modification of Cul3p is eliminated by deletion of the Rub1p pathway through disruption of either RUB1 or its activating enzyme ENR2/ULA1. The same disruptions in the Rub pathway decreased the percentage of total Rtt101p that is modified from approx. 60 to 30%. This suggests that Rtt101p has an additional RUB1- and ENR2-independent modification. All modified forms of Rtt101p and Cul3p were lost when a single lysine residue in a conserved region near the C-terminus was replaced by an arginine residue. These results suggest that this lysine residue is the site of Rub1p-dependent and -independent modifications in Rtt101p and of Rub1p-dependent modification in Cul3p. An rtt101Δ strain was hypersensitive to thiabendazole, isopropyl (N-3-chlorophenyl) carbamate and methyl methanesulphonate, but rub1Δ strains were not. Whereas rtt101Δ strains exhibited a 14-fold increase in Ty1 transposition, isogenic rub1Δ strains did not show statistically significant increases. Rtt101K791Rp, which cannot be modified, complemented for Rtt101p function in a transposition assay. Altogether, these results suggest that neither the RUB1-dependent nor the RUB1-independent form of Rtt101p is required for Rtt101p function. The identification of additional Rub1p targets in S. cerevisiae suggests an expanded role for Rub in this organism.

scholarly journals Isolation of Neurospora crassa A mating type mutants by repeat induced point (RIP) mutation.

Genetics ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
N L Glass ◽  
L Lee
Keyword(s):  
Neurospora Crassa ◽  
Mating Type ◽  
Single Copy ◽  
Open Reading Frame ◽  
Sexual Cycle ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Heterokaryon Incompatibility ◽  
Functional Regions ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Ascospore Formation

Abstract In the filamentous fungus, Neurospora crassa, mating type is regulated by a single locus with alternate alleles, termed A and a. The mating type alleles control entry into the sexual cycle, but during vegetative growth they function to elicit heterokaryon incompatibility, such that fusion of A and a hypha results in death of cells along the fusion point. Previous studies have shown that the A allele consists of 5301 bp and has no similarity to the a allele; it is found as a single copy and only within the A genome. The a allele is 3235 bp in length and it, too, is found as a single copy within the a genome. Within the A sequence, a single open reading frame (ORF) of 288 amino acids (mt A-1) is thought to confer fertility and heterokaryon incompatibility. In this study, we have used repeat induced point (RIP) mutation to identify functional regions of the A idiomorph. RIP mutations in mt A-1 resulted in the isolation of sterile, heterokaryon-compatible mutants, while RIP mutations generated in a region outside of mt A-1 resulted in the isolation of mutants capable of mating, but deficient in ascospore formation.

scholarly journals Expression and Processing of Proteins Encoded by the Saccharomyces Retrotransposon Ty5

2001 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 1790-1797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phillip A. Irwin ◽  
Daniel F. Voytas
Keyword(s):  
Reverse Transcriptase ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Immunoblot Analysis ◽  
Proteolytic Processing ◽  
Coding Region ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
C Terminus ◽  
Virus Like Particle ◽  
Ionic Detergent ◽  
Time Course Experiment

ABSTRACT Retroelements (retrotransposons and retroviruses) have two genes in common: gag, which specifies structural proteins that form a virus or virus-like particle, andpol, which specifies catalytic proteins required for replication. For many retroelements, gag andpol are present on separate reading frames. Their expression is highly regulated, and the ratio of Gag to Pol is critical for retroelement replication. The Saccharomycesretrotransposon Ty5 contains a single open reading frame, and we characterized Gag and Pol expression by generating transpositionally active Ty5 elements with epitope tags at the N terminus or C terminus or within the integrase coding region. Immunoblot analysis identified two Gag species (Gag-p27 and Gag-p37), reverse transcriptase (Pol-p59), and integrase (Pol-p80), all of which are largely insoluble in the absence of urea or ionic detergent. These proteins result from proteolytic processing of a polyprotein, because elements with mutations in the presumed active site of Ty5 protease express a single tagged protein (Gag-Pol-p182). Protease mutants are also transpositionally inactive. In a time course experiment, we monitored protein expression, proteolytic processing, and transposition of a Ty5 element with identical epitope tags at its N and C termini. Both transposition and the abundance of Gag-p27 increased over time. In contrast, the levels of Gag-p37 and reverse transcriptase peaked after ∼14 h of induction and then gradually decreased. This may be due to differences in stability of Gag-p27 relative to Gag-p37 and reverse transcriptase. The ratio of Ty5 Gag to Pol averaged 5:1 throughout the time course experiment, suggesting that differential protein stability regulates the amounts of these proteins.

scholarly journals Interaction of the Endocytic Scaffold Protein Pan1 with the Type I Myosins Contributes to the Late Stages of Endocytosis

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 2893-2903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Barker ◽  
Linda Lee ◽  
B. Daniel Pierce ◽  
Lymarie Maldonado-Báez ◽  
David G. Drubin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Stage ◽  
Actin Polymerization ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Type I ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Rich Domain ◽  
C Terminus

The yeast endocytic scaffold Pan1 contains an uncharacterized proline-rich domain (PRD) at its carboxy (C)-terminus. We report that the pan1-20 temperature-sensitive allele has a disrupted PRD due to a frame-shift mutation in the open reading frame of the domain. To reveal redundantly masked functions of the PRD, synthetic genetic array screens with a pan1ΔPRD strain found genetic interactions with alleles of ACT1, LAS17 and a deletion of SLA1. Through a yeast two-hybrid screen, the Src homology 3 domains of the type I myosins, Myo3 and Myo5, were identified as binding partners for the C-terminus of Pan1. In vitro and in vivo assays validated this interaction. The relative timing of recruitment of Pan1-green fluorescent protein (GFP) and Myo3/5-red fluorescent protein (RFP) at nascent endocytic sites was revealed by two-color real-time fluorescence microscopy; the type I myosins join Pan1 at cortical patches at a late stage of internalization, preceding the inward movement of Pan1 and its disassembly. In cells lacking the Pan1 PRD, we observed an increased lifetime of Myo5-GFP at the cortex. Finally, Pan1 PRD enhanced the actin polymerization activity of Myo5–Vrp1 complexes in vitro. We propose that Pan1 and the type I myosins interactions promote an actin activity important at a late stage in endocytic internalization.

scholarly journals Inferring Genome Trees by Using a Filter To Eliminate Phylogenetically Discordant Sequences and a Distance Matrix Based on Mean Normalized BLASTP Scores

2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (8) ◽  
pp. 2072-2080 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Paul Clarke ◽  
Robert G. Beiko ◽  
Mark A. Ragan ◽  
Robert L. Charlebois
Keyword(s):  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Distance Matrix ◽  
Bootstrap Support ◽  
Systematic Bias ◽  
Reading Frame ◽  
Topological Features ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Pairwise Sequence Similarity ◽  
Similarity Relationships ◽  
Genome Tree

ABSTRACT Darwin's paradigm holds that the diversity of present-day organisms has arisen via a process of genetic descent with modification, as on a bifurcating tree. Evidence is accumulating that genes are sometimes transferred not along lineages but rather across lineages. To the extent that this is so, Darwin's paradigm can apply only imperfectly to genomes, potentially complicating or perhaps undermining attempts to reconstruct historical relationships among genomes (i.e., a genome tree). Whether most genes in a genome have arisen via treelike (vertical) descent or by lateral transfer across lineages can be tested if enough complete genome sequences are used. We define a phylogenetically discordant sequence (PDS) as an open reading frame (ORF) that exhibits patterns of similarity relationships statistically distinguishable from those of most other ORFs in the same genome. PDSs represent between 6.0 and 16.8% (mean, 10.8%) of the analyzable ORFs in the genomes of 28 bacteria, eight archaea, and one eukaryote (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). In this study we developed and assessed a distance-based approach, based on mean pairwise sequence similarity, for generating genome trees. Exclusion of PDSs improved bootstrap support for basal nodes but altered few topological features, indicating that there is little systematic bias among PDSs. Many but not all features of the genome tree from which PDSs were excluded are consistent with the 16S rRNA tree.

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