Characterization of PfiT/PfiA toxin-antitoxin system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that affects cell elongation and prophage induction.
Environ Microbiol
; 22(12): 5048-5057, 2020 12.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32458560
ABSTRACT
Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are small genetic modules usually consisting of two elements-a toxin and an antitoxin. The abundance of TA systems among various bacterial strains may indicate an important evolutionary role. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can be found in a variety of niches in nature, is an opportunistic pathogen for various hosts. While P. aeruginosa strains are very versatile and diverse, only a few TA systems were characterized in this species. Here, we describe a newly characterized TA system in P. aeruginosa that is encoded within the filamentous Pf4 prophage. This system, named PfiT/PfiA, is a homologue of the ParE/YefM TA system. It is a type II TA system, in which the antitoxin is a protein that binds the toxic protein and eliminates the toxic effect. PfiT/PfiA carries several typical type II characteristics. Specifically, it constitutes two small genes expressed in a single operon, PfiT inhibits growth and PfiA eliminates this effect, PfiA binds PfiT, and PfiT expression results in elongated cells. Finally, we assigned a novel function to this TA system, where an imbalance between PfiT and PfiA, favouring the toxin, resulted in cell elongation and an increase in virion production.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
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Ativação Viral
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Sistemas Toxina-Antitoxina
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article