BREX system of Escherichia coli distinguishes self from non-self by methylation of a specific DNA site

Julia Gordeeva; Natalya Morozova; Nicolas Sierro; Artem Isaev; Tomas Sinkunas; Ksenia Tsvetkova; Mikhail Matlashov; Lidija Truncaite; Richard D. Morgan; Nikolai V. Ivanov; Virgis Siksnys; Lanying Zeng; Konstantin Severinov

doi:10.1093/nar/gky1125

BREX system of Escherichia coli distinguishes self from non-self by methylation of a specific DNA site

Julia Gordeeva, Natalya Morozova, Nicolas Sierro, Artem Isaev, Tomas Sinkunas, Ksenia Tsvetkova, Mikhail Matlashov, Lidija Truncaite, Richard D. Morgan, Nikolai V. Ivanov, Virgis Siksnys, Lanying Zeng, Konstantin Severinov

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

Prokaryotes evolved numerous systems that defend against predation by bacteriophages. In addition to well-known restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas immunity systems, many poorly characterized systems exist. One class of such systems, named BREX, consists of a putative phosphatase, a methyltransferase and four other proteins. A Bacillus cereus BREX system provides resistance to several unrelated phages and leads to modification of specific motif in host DNA. Here, we study the action of BREX system from a natural Escherichia coli isolate. We show that while it makes cells resistant to phage λ infection, induction of λ prophage from cells carrying BREX leads to production of viruses that overcome the defense. The induced phage DNA contains a methylated adenine residue in a specific motif. The same modification is found in the genome of BREX-carrying cells. The results establish, for the first time, that immunity to BREX system defense is provided by an epigenetic modification.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	253-265
Number of pages	13
Journal	Nucleic acids research
Volume	47
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gky1125
State	Published - Jan 10 2019
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Genetics

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title = "BREX system of Escherichia coli distinguishes self from non-self by methylation of a specific DNA site",

abstract = "Prokaryotes evolved numerous systems that defend against predation by bacteriophages. In addition to well-known restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas immunity systems, many poorly characterized systems exist. One class of such systems, named BREX, consists of a putative phosphatase, a methyltransferase and four other proteins. A Bacillus cereus BREX system provides resistance to several unrelated phages and leads to modification of specific motif in host DNA. Here, we study the action of BREX system from a natural Escherichia coli isolate. We show that while it makes cells resistant to phage λ infection, induction of λ prophage from cells carrying BREX leads to production of viruses that overcome the defense. The induced phage DNA contains a methylated adenine residue in a specific motif. The same modification is found in the genome of BREX-carrying cells. The results establish, for the first time, that immunity to BREX system defense is provided by an epigenetic modification.",

author = "Julia Gordeeva and Natalya Morozova and Nicolas Sierro and Artem Isaev and Tomas Sinkunas and Ksenia Tsvetkova and Mikhail Matlashov and Lidija Truncaite and Morgan, {Richard D.} and Ivanov, {Nikolai V.} and Virgis Siksnys and Lanying Zeng and Konstantin Severinov",

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doi = "10.1093/nar/gky1125",

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T1 - BREX system of Escherichia coli distinguishes self from non-self by methylation of a specific DNA site

AU - Gordeeva, Julia

AU - Morozova, Natalya

AU - Sierro, Nicolas

AU - Isaev, Artem

AU - Sinkunas, Tomas

AU - Tsvetkova, Ksenia

AU - Matlashov, Mikhail

AU - Truncaite, Lidija

AU - Morgan, Richard D.

AU - Ivanov, Nikolai V.

AU - Siksnys, Virgis

AU - Zeng, Lanying

AU - Severinov, Konstantin

PY - 2019/1/10

Y1 - 2019/1/10

N2 - Prokaryotes evolved numerous systems that defend against predation by bacteriophages. In addition to well-known restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas immunity systems, many poorly characterized systems exist. One class of such systems, named BREX, consists of a putative phosphatase, a methyltransferase and four other proteins. A Bacillus cereus BREX system provides resistance to several unrelated phages and leads to modification of specific motif in host DNA. Here, we study the action of BREX system from a natural Escherichia coli isolate. We show that while it makes cells resistant to phage λ infection, induction of λ prophage from cells carrying BREX leads to production of viruses that overcome the defense. The induced phage DNA contains a methylated adenine residue in a specific motif. The same modification is found in the genome of BREX-carrying cells. The results establish, for the first time, that immunity to BREX system defense is provided by an epigenetic modification.

AB - Prokaryotes evolved numerous systems that defend against predation by bacteriophages. In addition to well-known restriction-modification and CRISPR-Cas immunity systems, many poorly characterized systems exist. One class of such systems, named BREX, consists of a putative phosphatase, a methyltransferase and four other proteins. A Bacillus cereus BREX system provides resistance to several unrelated phages and leads to modification of specific motif in host DNA. Here, we study the action of BREX system from a natural Escherichia coli isolate. We show that while it makes cells resistant to phage λ infection, induction of λ prophage from cells carrying BREX leads to production of viruses that overcome the defense. The induced phage DNA contains a methylated adenine residue in a specific motif. The same modification is found in the genome of BREX-carrying cells. The results establish, for the first time, that immunity to BREX system defense is provided by an epigenetic modification.

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BREX system of Escherichia coli distinguishes self from non-self by methylation of a specific DNA site

Abstract

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