| 1. |
- Bao, Letian, et al.
(författare)
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Translational impacts of enzymes that modify ribosomal RNA around the peptidyl transferase centre
- 2024
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Ingår i: RNA Biology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1547-6286 .- 1555-8584. ; 21:1, s. 31-41
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Large ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) are modified heavily post-transcriptionally in functionally important regions but, paradoxically, individual knockouts (KOs) of the modification enzymes have minimal impact on Escherichia coli growth. Furthermore, we recently constructed a strain with combined KOs of five modification enzymes (RluC, RlmKL, RlmN, RlmM and RluE) of the ‘critical region’ of the peptidyl transferase centre (PTC) in 23S rRNA that exhibited only a minor growth defect at 37°C (although major at 20°C). However, our combined KO of modification enzymes RluC and RlmE (not RluE) resulted in conditional lethality (at 20°C). Although the growth rates for both multiple-KO strains were characterized, the molecular explanations for such deficits remain unclear. Here, we pinpoint biochemical defects in these strains. In vitro fast kinetics at 20°C and 37°C with ribosomes purified from both strains revealed, counterintuitively, the slowing of translocation, not peptide bond formation or peptidyl release. Elongation rates of protein synthesis in vivo, as judged by the kinetics of β-galactosidase induction, were also slowed. For the five-KO strain, the biggest deficit at 37°C was in 70S ribosome assembly, as judged by a dominant 50S peak in ribosome sucrose gradient profiles at 5 mM Mg2+. Reconstitution of this 50S subunit from purified five-KO rRNA and ribosomal proteins supported a direct role in ribosome biogenesis of the PTC region modifications per se, rather than of the modification enzymes. These results clarify the importance and roles of the enigmatic rRNA modifications.
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| 2. |
- Bartke, Katrin, et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of Bacterial Interspecies Hybrids with Enlarged Chromosomes
- 2022
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Ingår i: Genome Biology and Evolution. - : Oxford University Press. - 1759-6653. ; 14:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Conjugation driven by a chromosomally integrated F-plasmid (high frequency of recombination strain) can create bacteria with hybrid chromosomes. Previous studies of interspecies hybrids have focused on hybrids in which a region of donor chromosome replaces an orthologous region of recipient chromosome leaving chromosome size unchanged. Very little is known about hybrids with enlarged chromosomes, the mechanisms of their creation, or their subsequent trajectories of adaptative evolution. We addressed this by selecting 11 interspecies hybrids between Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium in which genome size was enlarged. In three cases, this occurred by the creation of an F '-plasmid while in the remaining eight, it was due to recombination of donor DNA into the recipient chromosome. Chromosome length increased by up to 33% and was associated in most cases with reduced growth fitness. Two hybrids, in which chromosome length was increased by the addition of 0.97 and 1.3 Mb, respectively, were evolved to study genetic pathways of fitness cost amelioration. In each case, relative fitness rapidly approached one and this was associated with large deletions involving recombination between repetitive DNA sequences. The locations of these repetitive sequences played a major role in determining the architecture of the evolved genotypes. Notably, in ten out of ten independent evolution experiments, deletions removed DNA of both species, creating high-fitness strains with hybrid chromosomes. In conclusion, we found that enlargement of a bacterial chromosome by acquisition of diverged orthologous DNA is followed by a period of rapid evolutionary adjustment frequently creating irreversibly hybrid chromosomes.
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| 3. |
- Bartke, Katrin, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic Architecture and Fitness of Bacterial Interspecies Hybrids
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : Oxford University Press. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 38:4, s. 1472-1481
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Integration of a conjugative plasmid into a bacterial chromosome can promote the transfer of chromosomal DNA to other bacteria. Intraspecies chromosomal conjugation is believed responsible for creating the global pathogens Klebsiella pneumoniae ST258 and Escherichia coli ST1193. Interspecies conjugation is also possible but little is known about the genetic architecture or fitness of such hybrids. To study this, we generated by conjugation 14 hybrids of E. coli and Salmonella enterica. These species belong to different genera, diverged from a common ancestor >100 Ma, and share a conserved order of orthologous genes with similar to 15% nucleotide divergence. Genomic analysis revealed that all but one hybrid had acquired a contiguous segment of donor E. coli DNA, replacing a homologous region of recipient Salmonella chromosome, and ranging in size from similar to 100 to >4,000 kb. Recombination joints occurred in sequences with higher-than-average nucleotide identity. Most hybrid strains suffered a large reduction in growth rate, but the magnitude of this cost did not correlate with the length of foreign DNA. Compensatory evolution to ameliorate the cost of low-fitness hybrids pointed towards disruption of complex genetic networks as a cause. Most interestingly, 4 of the 14 hybrids, in which from 45% to 90% of the Salmonella chromosome was replaced with E. coli DNA, showed no significant reduction in growth fitness. These data suggest that the barriers to creating high-fitness interspecies hybrids may be significantly lower than generally appreciated with implications for the creation of novel species.
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| 4. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Antibiotic perseverance increases the risk of resistance development
- 2023
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 120:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections poses a global threat. Antibiotic resistance development is generally studied in batch cultures which conceals the heterogeneity in cellular responses. Using single-cell imaging, we studied the growth response of Escherichia coli to sub-inhibitory and inhibitory concentrations of nine antibiotics. We found that the heterogeneity in growth increases more than what is expected from growth rate reduction for three out of the nine antibiotics tested. For two antibiotics (rifampicin and nitrofurantoin), we found that sub-populations were able to maintain growth at lethal antibiotic concentrations for up to 10 generations. This perseverance of growth increased the population size and led to an up to 40-fold increase in the frequency of antibiotic resistance mutations in gram-negative and gram-positive species. We conclude that antibiotic perseverance is a common phenomenon that has the potential to impact antibiotic resistance development across pathogenic bacteria.
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| 5. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Autoregulation of the tufB operon in Salmonella
- 2016
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Ingår i: Molecular Microbiology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0950-382X .- 1365-2958. ; 100:6, s. 1004-1016
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Salmonella enterica and related species, translation elongation factor EF-Tu is encoded by two widely separated but near-identical genes, tufA and tufB. Two thirds of EF-Tu is expressed from tufA with the remaining one third coming from tufB. Inactivation of tufA is partly compensated by a doubling in the amount of EF-TuB but the mechanism of this up-regulation is unknown. By experimental evolution selecting for improved growth rate in a strain with an inactive tufA we selected six different noncoding or synonymous point mutations close to the tufB start codon. Based on these results we constructed a total of 161 different point mutations around the tufB start codon, as well as tufB 3′-truncations, and measured tufB expression using tufB-yfp transcriptional and translational fusions. The expression data support the presence of two competing stem-loop structures that can form in the 5′-end of the tufB mRNA. Formation of the ‘closed’ structure leads to Rho-dependent transcriptional termination of the tufB mRNA. We propose a model in which translational speed is used as a sensor for EF-Tu concentration and where the expression of tufB is post-transcriptionally regulated. This model describes for the first time how expression of the most abundant Salmonella protein is autoregulated.
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| 6. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-
(författare)
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Biased Evolution : Causes and Consequences
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In evolution alternative genetic trajectories can potentially lead to similar phenotypic outcomes. However, certain trajectories are preferred over others. These preferences bias the genomes of living organisms and the underlying processes can be observed in ongoing evolution.We have studied a variety of biases that can be found in bacterial chromosomes and determined the selective causes and functional consequences for the cell. We have quantified codon usage bias in highly expressed genes and shown that it is selected to optimise translational speed. We further demonstrated that the resulting differences in decoding speed can be used to regulate gene expression, and that the use of ‘non-optimal’ codons can be detrimental to reading frame maintenance. Biased gene location on the chromosome favours recombination between genes within gene families and leads to co-evolution. We have shown that such recombinational events can protect these gene families from inactivation by mobile genetic elements, and that chromosome organization can be selectively maintained because inversions can lead to the formation of unstable hybrid operons.We have used the development of antibiotic resistance to study how different bacterial lifestyles influence evolutionary trajectories. For this we used two distinct pairs of antibiotics and disease-causing bacteria, namely (i) Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is treated with rifampicin and (ii) Escherichia coli that is treated with ciprofloxacin. We have shown that in the slow-growing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, resistance mutations are selected for high-level resistance. Fitness is initially less important, and over time fitness costs can be ameliorated by compensatory mutations. The need for rapid growth causes the selection of ciprofloxacin resistance in Escherichia coli not only to be selected on the basis of high-level resistance but also on high fitness. Compensatory evolution is therefore not required and is not observed.Taken together, our results show that the evolution of a phenotype is the product of multiple steps and that many factors influence which trajectory is the most likely to occur and be most beneficial. Over time, selection will favour this particular trajectory and lead to biased evolution, affecting genome sequence and organization.
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| 7. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Co-evolution with recombination affects the stability of mobile genetic element insertions within gene families of Salmonella
- 2018
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Ingår i: Molecular Microbiology. - : WILEY. - 0950-382X .- 1365-2958. ; 108:6, s. 697-710
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bacteria can have multiple copies of a gene at separate locations on the same chromosome. Some of these gene families, including tuf (translation elongation factor EF-Tu) and rrl (ribosomal RNA), encode functions critically important for bacterial fitness. Genes within these families are known to evolve in concert using homologous recombination to transfer genetic information from one gene to another. This mechanism can counteract the detrimental effects of nucleotide sequence divergence over time. Whether such mechanisms can also protect against the potentially lethal effects of mobile genetic element insertion is not well understood. To address this we constructed two different length insertion cassettes to mimic mobile genetic elements and inserted these into various positions of the tuf and rrl genes. Wemeasured rates of recombinational repair that removed the inserted cassette and studied the underlying mechanism. Our results indicate that homologous recombination can protect the tuf and rrl genes from inactivation by mobile genetic elements, but forinsertions within shorter gene sequences the efficiency of repair is very low. Intriguingly, we found that physical distance separating genes on the chromosome directly affects the rate of recombinational repair suggesting that relative location will influence the ability of homologous recombination to maintain homogeneity.
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| 8. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Comprehensive phenotypic characterization of rifampicin resistance mutations in Salmonella provides insight into the evolution of resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0305-7453 .- 1460-2091. ; 70:3, s. 680-685
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ObjectivesMutations in the β-subunit of RNA polymerase (RNAP), encoded by rpoB, are responsible for rifampicin resistance (RifR). Although many mutations in rpoB can reduce susceptibility, only a few are frequent amongst RifR clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates. It has been suggested that there is a negative correlation between the fitness costs of RifR mutations and their respective clinical frequency, but so far comparable fitness cost measurements have only been conducted for a very limited number of RifR mutations. We tested this hypothesis using Salmonella and Mycobacterium smegmatis as model organisms.MethodsWe constructed 122 different RifR mutations in Salmonella. MICs and relative fitness costs in the presence and absence of rifampicin were determined for each mutant, including for a smaller number of RifRM. smegmatis strains. Results were compared with available mutation frequency data from clinical MTB isolates.Results(i) RifR mutations frequently found in MTB isolates have a fitness cost in Salmonella Typhimurium and M. smegmatis. (ii) Clinically frequent RifR mutations have a high rifampicin MIC. (iii) There is a strong correlation between the magnitude of the fitness cost of a RifR mutation in Salmonella Typhimurium or M. smegmatis and the frequency with which that mutation is associated with secondary (putative compensatory) mutations in RNAP of clinical MTB isolates.ConclusionsThis suggests that the success of RifR mutations in clinical MTB isolates may be dependent not only on a low initial fitness cost, but rather the results of three factors: (i) a high rifampicin MIC; (ii) a relatively low initial fitness cost; and (iii) the ability to additionally acquire compensatory mutations selected to further reduce fitness cost.
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| 9. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Expression of the qepA1 gene is induced under antibiotic exposure
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. - : Oxford University Press. - 0305-7453 .- 1460-2091. ; 76:6, s. 1433-1440
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundThe qepA1 gene encodes an efflux pump that reduces susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Little is known about the regulation of qepA1 expression.ObjectivesTo assess the potential role of ciprofloxacin and other antibiotics in the regulation of qepA1 gene expression. To identify the promoter that drives qepA1 expression and other factors involved in expression regulation. To assess whether the identified features are universal among qepA alleles.MethodsA translational qepA1-yfp fusion under the control of the qepA1 upstream region was cloned into the Escherichia coli chromosome. Expression of the fusion protein was measured in the presence of various antibiotics. Deletions within the upstream region were introduced to identify regions involved in gene expression and regulation. The qepA1 coding sequence and upstream region were compared with all available qepA sequences.ResultsCellular stress caused by the presence of various antibiotics can induce qepA1 expression. The qepA1 gene is fused to a class I integron and gene expression is driven by the Pc promoter within the integrase gene. A segment within the integron belonging to a truncated dfrB4 gene is essential for the regulation of qepA1 expression. This genetic context is universal among all sequenced qepA alleles.ConclusionsThe fusion of the qepA1 gene to a class I integron has created a novel regulatory unit that enables qepA1 expression to be under the control of antibiotic exposure. This setup mitigates potential negative effects of QepA1 production on bacterial fitness by restricting high-level expression to environmental conditions in which QepA1 is beneficial.
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| 10. |
- Brandis, Gerrit, 1985-, et al.
(författare)
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Fitness-compensatory mutations in rifampicin-resistant RNA polymerase
- 2012
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Ingår i: Molecular Microbiology. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0950-382X .- 1365-2958. ; 85:1, s. 142-151
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mutations in rpoB (RNA polymerase β-subunit) can cause high-level resistance to rifampicin, an important first-line drug against tuberculosis. Most rifampicin-resistant (RifR) mutants selected in vitro have reduced fitness, and resistant clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis frequently carry multiple mutations in RNA polymerase genes. This supports a role for compensatory evolution in global epidemics of drug-resistant tuberculosis but the significance of secondary mutations outside rpoB has not been demonstrated or quantified. Using Salmonella as a model organism, and a previously characterized RifR mutation (rpoB R529C) as a starting point, independent lineages were evolved with selection for improved growth in the presence and absence of rifampicin. Compensatory mutations were identified in every lineage and were distributed between rpoA, rpoB and rpoC. Resistance was maintained in all strains showing that increased fitness by compensatory mutation was more likely than reversion. Genetic reconstructions demonstrated that the secondary mutations were responsible for increasing growth rate. Many of the compensatory mutations in rpoA and rpoC individually caused small but significant reductions in susceptibility to rifampicin, and some compensatory mutations in rpoB individually caused high-level resistance. These findings show that mutations in different components of RNA polymerase are responsible for fitness compensation of a RifR mutant.
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