Two steps away from novelty – principles of bacterial DNA uptake
- 4 April 2011
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Molecular Microbiology
- Vol. 80 (4), 860-867
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07647.x
Abstract
Transport of DNA across bacterial membranes during natural transformation is a fascinating and elaborate process. It requires the functional integrity of huge multi-protein complexes present in the bacterial envelope at distinct loci. After successful mapping of essential gene products involved in natural transformation, current research focuses on the functional interplay of these components in order to understand the mechanisms how DNA enters the bacterium. Here, we discuss the model of a two-step DNA uptake process in competent Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The first step comprises the transfer of DNA from the bacterial surface to the cytoplasmic membrane. For this purpose, bacteria use a variety of machineries, mostly, but not necessarily, sharing key homologous components. The second step is the translocation of DNA across the cytoplasmic membrane, a tight barrier at which ion gradients are established for energization of the cell. Crossing the latter is mediated by a protein complex harbouring a highly conserved membrane channel. On the basis of current data, at least the first step is uncoupled from the second. This review intends to highlight mechanistic features of both steps of bacterial DNA uptake by the integrative interpretation of genetic, biochemical and biophysical data.Keywords
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Three-Layered DNA Uptake Machinery at the Cell Pole in Competent Bacillus subtilis Cells Is a Stable ComplexJournal of Bacteriology, 2011
- Evidence for VirB4-Mediated Dislocation of Membrane-Integrated VirB2 Pilin during Biogenesis of the Agrobacterium VirB/VirD4 Type IV Secretion SystemJournal of Bacteriology, 2010
- DNA Uptake Sequence-Mediated Enhancement of Transformation in Neisseria gonorrhoeae Is Strain DependentJournal of Bacteriology, 2010
- Composite system mediates two-step DNA uptake into Helicobacter pyloriProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- Structure of the outer membrane complex of a type IV secretion systemNature, 2009
- F-pili dynamics by live-cell imagingProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Role of Cj1211 in Natural Transformation and Transfer of Antibiotic Resistance Determinants inCampylobacter jejuniAntimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2008
- Sequence-directed DNA export guides chromosome translocation during sporulation in Bacillus subtilisNature Structural & Molecular Biology, 2008
- VirE2: A Unique ssDNA-Compacting Molecular MachinePLoS Biology, 2008
- The outer membrane secretin PilQ from Neisseria meningitidis binds DNAMicrobiology, 2007