rexAB mutants in Streptococcus pneumoniae
- 1 July 2004
- journal article
- Published by Microbiology Society in Microbiology
- Vol. 150 (7) , 2409-2414
- https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.27106-0
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a human pathogen that is naturally transformable. In this study a major component of the homologous recombination pathway, the RexAB exonuclease/helicase, was characterized. rexA and rexB insertional mutants were constructed using mariner mutagenesis and found to have identical phenotypes. Both rexAB mutants displayed poor cell viability, reduced double-strand exonuclease activity, UV sensitivity and a reduced level of gene conversion compared to the wild-type strain. No effect was observed on plasmid and chromosomal transformation efficiencies. These results indicate that in S. pneumoniae, RexAB is required for DNA repair, but not for chromosomal transformation and plasmid establishment.Keywords
This publication has 44 references indexed in Scilit:
- Microarray analysis of the Bacillus subtilis K‐state: genome‐wide expression changes dependent on ComKMolecular Microbiology, 2002
- A novel family of regulated helicases/nucleases from Gram‐positive bacteria: insights into the initiation of DNA recombinationMolecular Microbiology, 2002
- The Bacillus subtilis AddAB helicase/nuclease is regulated by its cognate Chi sequence in vitroJournal of Molecular Biology, 2000
- Adaptation to the environment: Streptococcus pneumoniae, a paradigm for recombination‐mediated genetic plasticity?Molecular Microbiology, 2000
- A five‐nucleotide sequence protects DNA from exonucleolytic degradation by AddAB, the RecBCD analogue of Bacillus subtilisMolecular Microbiology, 1998
- A 7-base-pair sequence protects DNA from exonucleolytic degradation in Lactococcus lactis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1995
- Chi sequence protects against RecBCD degradation of DNA in vivo.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1992
- Characterization of recombination-deficient mutants of Bacillus subtilisJournal of Bacteriology, 1988
- Selective advantage of deletions enhancing chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae plasmidsGene, 1986
- ATP-dependent deoxyribonuclease in Bacillus subtilis and a mutant deficient in this activityMutation Research - Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis, 1974