Abstract
Several host-adapted bacterial pathogens contain methyltransferases associated with type III restriction-modification (R-M) systems that are subject to reversible, high-frequency on/off switching of expression (phase variation). To investigate the role of phase-variable expression of R-M systems, we made a mutant strain lacking the methyltransferase (mod) associated with a type III R-M system of Haemophilus influenzae and analyzed its phenotype. By microarray analysis, we identified a number of genes that were either up- or down-regulated in the mod mutant strain. This system reports the coordinated random switching of a set of genes in a bacterial pathogen and may represent a widely used mechanism.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Bacterial Proteins / genetics
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Codon, Initiator / genetics
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DNA Methylation
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DNA Modification Methylases / genetics*
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DNA, Bacterial / genetics
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DNA, Bacterial / metabolism
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Gene Expression Profiling
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Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / genetics*
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Genes, Bacterial / genetics*
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Haemophilus influenzae / cytology
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Haemophilus influenzae / enzymology
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Haemophilus influenzae / genetics*
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Haemophilus influenzae / immunology
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Heat-Shock Proteins / genetics
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Heat-Shock Response
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Host-Parasite Interactions
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Macrophage Activation
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Mutation / genetics
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Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
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Phenotype
Substances
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Bacterial Proteins
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Codon, Initiator
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DNA, Bacterial
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Heat-Shock Proteins
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DNA Modification Methylases