Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorPhillips, Zachary N
dc.contributor.authorHusna, Asma-Ul
dc.contributor.authorJennings, Michael P
dc.contributor.authorSeib, Kate L
dc.contributor.authorAtack, John M
dc.date.accessioned2019-07-15T01:25:31Z
dc.date.available2019-07-15T01:25:31Z
dc.date.issued2019
dc.identifier.issn1350-0872
dc.identifier.doi10.1099/mic.0.000805
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/386387
dc.description.abstractPhase-variable DNA methyltransferases control the expression of multiple genes via epigenetic mechanisms in a wide variety of bacterial species. These systems are called phasevarions, for phase-variable regulons. Phasevarions regulate genes involved in pathogenesis, host adaptation and antibiotic resistance. Many human-adapted bacterial pathogens contain phasevarions. These include leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, such as non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae , Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria spp. Phase-variable methyltransferases and phasevarions have also been discovered in environmental organisms and veterinary pathogens. The existence of many different examples suggests that phasevarions have evolved multiple times as a contingency strategy in the bacterial domain, controlling phenotypes that are important in adapting to environmental change. Many of the organisms that contain phasevarions have existing or emerging drug resistance. Vaccines may therefore represent the best and most cost-effective tool to prevent disease caused by these organisms. However, many phasevarions also control the expression of current and putative vaccine candidates; variable expression of antigens could lead to immune evasion, meaning that vaccines designed using these targets become ineffective. It is therefore essential to characterize phasevarions in order to determine an organism’s stably expressed antigenic repertoire, and rationally design broadly effective vaccines.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherMicrobiology Society
dc.relation.ispartoflocationEngland
dc.relation.ispartofpagefrom1
dc.relation.ispartofpageto12
dc.relation.ispartofjournalMicrobiology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchBacteriology
dc.subject.fieldofresearchEpigenetics (incl. genome methylation and epigenomics)
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode310701
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode310504
dc.titlePhasevarions of bacterial pathogens - phase-variable epigenetic regulators evolving from restriction-modification systems.
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.descriptionC1 - Articles
dc.type.codeC - Journal Articles
dcterms.licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.description.versionVersion of Record (VoR)
gro.description.notepublicThis publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version.
gro.rights.copyright© 2019 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorSeib, Kate
gro.griffith.authorAtack, John M.
gro.griffith.authorJennings, Michael P.


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

  • Journal articles
    Contains articles published by Griffith authors in scholarly journals.

Show simple item record