DNA cytosine methyltransferase enhances viability during prolonged stationary phase in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACT In Escherichia coli, DNA cytosine methyltransferase (Dcm) methylates the second cytosine in the sequence 5′CCWGG3′ generating 5-methylcytosine. Dcm is not associated with a cognate restriction enzyme, suggesting Dcm impacts facets of bacterial physiology outside of restriction-modification...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFEMS microbiology letters Vol. 367; no. 20; pp. 1 - 9
Main Authors Militello, Kevin T, Finnerty-Haggerty, Lara, Kambhampati, Ooha, Huss, Rebecca, Knapp, Rachel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Oxford University Press 05.11.2020
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Summary:ABSTRACT In Escherichia coli, DNA cytosine methyltransferase (Dcm) methylates the second cytosine in the sequence 5′CCWGG3′ generating 5-methylcytosine. Dcm is not associated with a cognate restriction enzyme, suggesting Dcm impacts facets of bacterial physiology outside of restriction-modification systems. Other than gene expression changes, there are few phenotypes that have been identified in strains with natural or engineered Dcm loss, and thus Dcm function has remained an enigma. Herein, we demonstrate that Dcm does not impact bacterial growth under optimal and selected stress conditions. However, Dcm does impact viability in long-term stationary phase competition experiments. Dcm+ cells outcompete cells lacking dcm under different conditions. Dcm knockout cells have more RpoS-dependent HPII catalase activity than wild-type cells. Thus, the impact of Dcm on stationary phase may involve changes in RpoS activity. Overall, our data reveal a new role for Dcm during long-term stationary phase. Dcm promotes viability during long-term stationary phase and represses RpoS activity.
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ISSN:1574-6968
0378-1097
1574-6968
DOI:10.1093/femsle/fnaa166