The RdgC protein employs a novel mechanism involving a finger domain to bind to circular DNA

The crystal structure of bacteriophage λ RexA provides novel insights into the DNA binding properties of Rex-like phage exclusion proteins

RexA and RexB function as an exclusion system that prevents bacteriophage T4rII mutants from growing on Escherichia coli λ phage lysogens. Recent data established that RexA is a non-specific DNA binding protein that can act independently of RexB to bias the λ bistable switch toward the lytic state, preventing conversion back to lysogeny. The molecular interactions underlying these activities are unknown, owing in part to a dearth of structural information. Here, we present the 2.05-Å crystal structure of the λ RexA dimer, which reveals a two-domain architecture with unexpected structural homology to the recombination-associated protein RdgC. Modelling suggests that our structure adopts a closed conformation and would require significant domain rearrangements to facilitate DNA binding. Mutagenesis coupled with electromobility shift assays, limited proteolysis, and double electron-electron spin resonance spectroscopy support a DNA-dependent conformational change. In vivo phenotypes of RexA mutants suggest that DNA binding is not a strict requirement for phage exclusion but may directly contribute to modulation of the bistable switch. We further demonstrate that RexA homologs from other temperate phages also dimerize and bind DNA in vitro. Collectively, these findings advance our mechanistic understanding of Rex functions and provide new evolutionary insights into different aspects of phage biology.

Genomic trajectories of a near-extinction event in the Chatham Island black robin

Background

Understanding the micro-­evolutionary response of populations to demographic declines is a major goal in evolutionary and conservation biology. In small populations, genetic drift can lead to an accumulation of deleterious mutations, which will increase the risk of extinction. However, demographic recovery can still occur after extreme declines, suggesting that natural selection may purge deleterious mutations, even in extremely small populations. The Chatham Island black robin (Petroica traversi) is arguably the most inbred bird species in the world. It avoided imminent extinction in the early 1980s and after a remarkable recovery from a single pair, a second population was established and the two extant populations have evolved in complete isolation since then. Here, we analysed 52 modern and historical genomes to examine the genomic consequences of this extreme bottleneck and the subsequent translocation.

Results

We found evidence for two-fold decline in heterozygosity and three- to four-fold increase in inbreeding in modern genomes. Moreover, there was partial support for temporal reduction in total load for detrimental variation. In contrast, compared to historical genomes, modern genomes showed a significantly higher realised load, reflecting the temporal increase in inbreeding. Furthermore, the translocation induced only small changes in the frequency of deleterious alleles, with the majority of detrimental variation being shared between the two populations.

Conclusion

Our results highlight the dynamics of mutational load in a species that recovered from the brink of extinction, and show rather limited temporal changes in mutational load. We hypothesise that ancestral purging may have been facilitated by population fragmentation and isolation on several islands for thousands of generations and may have already reduced much of the highly deleterious load well before human arrival and introduction of pests to the archipelago. The majority of fixed deleterious variation was shared between the modern populations, but translocation of individuals with low mutational load could possibly mitigate further fixation of high-frequency deleterious variation.

AuthentiCT: a model of ancient DNA damage to estimate the proportion of present-day DNA contamination

Contamination from present-day DNA is a fundamental issue when studying ancient DNA from historical or archaeological material, and quantifying the amount of contamination is essential for downstream analyses. We present AuthentiCT, a command-line tool to estimate the proportion of present-day DNA contamination in ancient DNA datasets generated from single-stranded DNA libraries. The prediction is based solely on the patterns of post-mortem damage observed on ancient DNA sequences. The method has the power to quantify contamination from as few as 10,000 mapped sequences, making it particularly useful for analysing specimens that are poorly preserved or for which little data is available.

2000-year-old pathogen genomes reconstructed from metagenomic analysis of Egyptian mummified individuals

BACKGROUND

Recent advances in sequencing have facilitated large-scale analyses of the metagenomic composition of different samples, including the environmental microbiome of air, water, and soil, as well as the microbiome of living humans and other animals. Analyses of the microbiome of ancient human samples may provide insights into human health and disease, as well as pathogen evolution, but the field is still in its very early stages and considered highly challenging.

RESULTS

The metagenomic and pathogen content of Egyptian mummified individuals from different time periods was investigated via genetic analysis of the microbial composition of various tissues. The analysis of the dental calculus' microbiome identified Red Complex bacteria, which are correlated with periodontal diseases. From bone and soft tissue, genomes of two ancient pathogens, a 2200-year-old Mycobacterium leprae strain and a 2000-year-old human hepatitis B virus, were successfully reconstructed.

CONCLUSIONS

The results show the reliability of metagenomic studies on Egyptian mummified individuals and the potential to use them as a source for the extraction of ancient pathogen DNA.

Biomolecular analyses reveal the age, sex and species identity of a near-intact Pleistocene bird carcass

Ancient remains found in permafrost represent a rare opportunity to study past ecosystems. Here, we present an exceptionally well-preserved ancient bird carcass found in the Siberian permafrost, along with a radiocarbon date and a reconstruction of its complete mitochondrial genome. The carcass was radiocarbon dated to approximately 44–49 ka BP, and was genetically identified as a female horned lark. This is a species that usually inhabits open habitat, such as the steppe environment that existed in Siberia at the time. This near-intact carcass highlights the potential of permafrost remains for evolutionary studies that combine both morphology and ancient nucleic acids.

Nicolas Dussex et al. identify a 44,000–49,000 year old bird found in Siberian permafrost as a female horned lark using ancient DNA. This exceptionally well-preserved specimen illustrates the potential contribution to science of permafrost deposits, such as the study of ecology and evolution of ancient ecosystems, calibration of molecular clocks, and furthering our understanding of processes such as biological regulation and gene expression in relation to climate change.

DNA Packaging and Genomics of the Salmonella 9NA-Like Phages

We present the genome sequences of Salmonella enterica tailed phages Sasha, Sergei, and Solent. These phages, along with Salmonella phages 9NA, FSL_SP-062, and FSL_SP-069 and the more distantly related Proteus phage PmiS-Isfahan, have similarly sized genomes of between 52 and 57 kbp in length that are largely syntenic. Their genomes also show substantial genome mosaicism relative to one another, which is common within tailed phage clusters. Their gene content ranges from 80 to 99 predicted genes, of which 40 are common to all seven and form the core genome, which includes all identifiable virion assembly and DNA replication genes. The total number of gene types (pangenome) in the seven phages is 176, and 59 of these are unique to individual phages. Their core genomes are much more closely related to one another than to the genome of any other known phage, and they comprise a well-defined cluster within the family Siphoviridae To begin to characterize this group of phages in more experimental detail, we identified the genes that encode the major virion proteins and examined the DNA packaging of the prototypic member, phage 9NA. We show that it uses a pac site-directed headful packaging mechanism that results in virion chromosomes that are circularly permuted and about 13% terminally redundant. We also show that its packaging series initiates with double-stranded DNA cleavages that are scattered across a 170-bp region and that its headful measuring device has a precision of ±1.8%.IMPORTANCE The 9NA-like phages are clearly highly related to each other but are not closely related to any other known phage type. This work describes the genomes of three new 9NA-like phages and the results of experimental analysis of the proteome of the 9NA virion and DNA packaging into the 9NA phage head. There is increasing interest in the biology of phages because of their potential for use as antibacterial agents and for their ecological roles in bacterial communities. 9NA-like phages that infect two bacterial genera have been identified to date, and related phages infecting additional Gram-negative bacterial hosts are likely to be found in the future. This work provides a foundation for the study of these phages, which will facilitate their study and potential use.

Does DNA replication direct locus-specific recombination during host immune evasion by antigenic variation in the African trypanosome?

All pathogens must survive host immune attack and, amongst the survival strategies that have evolved, antigenic variation is a particularly widespread reaction to thwart adaptive immunity. Though the reactions that underlie antigenic variation are highly varied, recombination by gene conversion is a widespread approach to immune survival in bacterial and eukaryotic pathogens. In the African trypanosome, antigenic variation involves gene conversion-catalysed movement of a huge number of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes into a few telomeric sites for VSG expression, amongst which only a single site is actively transcribed at one time. Genetic evidence indicates VSG gene conversion has co-opted the general genome maintenance reaction of homologous recombination, aligning the reaction strategy with targeted rearrangements found in many organisms. What is less clear is how gene conversion might be initiated within the locality of the VSG expression sites. Here, we discuss three emerging models for VSG switching initiation and ask how these compare with processes for adaptive genome change found in other organisms.

Proteomic Analysis of a Global Regulator GacS Sensor Kinase in the Rhizobacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6

The GacS/GacA system in the root colonizer Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6 is a key regulator of many traits relevant to the biocontrol function of this bacterium. Proteomic analysis revealed 12 proteins were down-regulated in a gacS mutant of P. chlororaphis O6. These GacS-regulated proteins functioned in combating oxidative stress, cell signaling, biosynthesis of secondary metabolism, and secretion. The extent of regulation was shown by real-time RT-PCR to vary between the genes. Mutants of P. chlororaphis O6 were generated in two GacS-regulated genes, trpE, encoding a protein involved in tryptophan synthesis, and prnA, required for conversion of tryptophan to the antimicrobial compound, pyrrolitrin. Failure of the trpE mutant to induce systemic resistance in tobacco against a foliar pathogen causing soft rot, Pectobacterium carotovorum SCCI, correlated with reduced colonization of root surfaces implying an inadequate supply of tryptophan to support growth. Although colonization was not affected by mutation in the prnA gene, induction of systemic resistance was reduced, suggesting that pyrrolnitrin was an activator of plant resistance as well as an antifungal agent. Study of mutants in the other GacS-regulated proteins will indicate further the features required for biocontrol-activity in this rhizobacterium.

Double-strand DNA end-binding and sliding of the toroidal CRISPR-associated protein Csn2

The adaptive immunity of bacteria against foreign nucleic acids, mediated by CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats), relies on the specific incorporation of short pieces of the invading foreign DNA into a special genomic locus, termed CRISPR array. The stored sequences (spacers) are subsequently used in the form of small RNAs (crRNAs) to interfere with the target nucleic acid. We explored the DNA-binding mechanism of the immunization protein Csn2 from the human pathogen Streptococcus agalactiae using different biochemical techniques, atomic force microscopic imaging and molecular dynamics simulations. The results demonstrate that the ring-shaped Csn2 tetramer binds DNA ends through its central hole and slides inward, likely by a screw motion along the helical path of the enclosed DNA. The presented data indicate an accessory function of Csn2 during integration of exogenous DNA by end-joining.

The Escherichia coli DinD protein modulates RecA activity by inhibiting postsynaptic RecA filaments

Escherichia coli dinD is an SOS gene up-regulated in response to DNA damage. We find that the purified DinD protein is a novel inhibitor of RecA-mediated DNA strand exchange activities. Most modulators of RecA protein activity act by controlling the amount of RecA protein bound to single-stranded DNA by affecting either the loading of RecA protein onto DNA or the disassembly of RecA nucleoprotein filaments bound to single-stranded DNA. The DinD protein, however, acts postsynaptically to inhibit RecA during an on-going DNA strand exchange, likely through the disassembly of RecA filaments. DinD protein does not affect RecA single-stranded DNA filaments but efficiently disassembles RecA when bound to two or more DNA strands, effectively halting RecA-mediated branch migration. By utilizing a nonspecific duplex DNA-binding protein, YebG, we show that the DinD effect is not simply due to duplex DNA sequestration. We present a model suggesting that the negative effects of DinD protein are targeted to a specific conformational state of the RecA protein and discuss the potential role of DinD protein in the regulation of recombinational DNA repair.