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  • Streptococcus suis Encodes Multiple Allelic Variants of a Phase-Variable Type III DNA Methyltransferase, ModS, That Control Distinct Phasevarions

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    Tram460820-Published.pdf (1.211Mb)
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    Version of Record (VoR)
    Author(s)
    Tram, Greg
    Jen, Freda E-C
    Phillips, Zachary N
    Timms, Jamie
    Husna, Asma-Ul
    Jennings, Michael P
    Blackall, Patrick J
    Atack, John M
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Atack, John M.
    Jennings, Michael P.
    Jen, Freda E.
    Tram, Greg C.
    Phillips, Zachary N.
    Year published
    2021
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Streptococcus suis is a significant cause of bacterial meningitis in humans, particularly in Southeast Asia, and is a leading cause of respiratory and invasive disease in pigs. Phase-variable DNA methyltransferases, associated with restriction-modification (R-M) systems, are a source of epigenetic gene regulation, controlling the expression of multiple genes. These systems are known as phasevari- ons (phase-variable regulons) and have been characterized in many host-adapted bacterial pathogens. We recently described the presence of a Type III DNA methyl- transferase in S. suis, ModS, which contains a simple sequence repeat ...
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    Streptococcus suis is a significant cause of bacterial meningitis in humans, particularly in Southeast Asia, and is a leading cause of respiratory and invasive disease in pigs. Phase-variable DNA methyltransferases, associated with restriction-modification (R-M) systems, are a source of epigenetic gene regulation, controlling the expression of multiple genes. These systems are known as phasevari- ons (phase-variable regulons) and have been characterized in many host-adapted bacterial pathogens. We recently described the presence of a Type III DNA methyl- transferase in S. suis, ModS, which contains a simple sequence repeat (SSR) tract within the open reading frame of the modS gene and which differed in length between individual strains. We also observed that multiple allelic variants of the modS gene were present in a population of S. suis isolates. Here, we demonstrate that a biphasic ON-OFF switching of expression occurs in the two most common ModS alleles, ModS1 and ModS2, and that switching is dependent on SSR tract length. Furthermore, we show using single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing that ModS1 and ModS2 are active methyltransferases in S. suis. ON-OFF switching of each ModS allele results in the regulation of distinct phasevarions, with the ModS2 phasevarion impacting growth patterns and antibiotic resistance. This is the first demonstration of a phase-variable Type III DNA methyltransferase in a Gram-positive organism that controls a phasevarion. Characterizing the phenotypic effects of pha- sevarions in S. suis is key to understanding pathogenesis and the development of future vaccines. Importance Streptococcus suis is a causative agent of meningitis, polyarthritis, and polyserositis in swine, and it is a major cause of zoonotic meningitis in humans. Here, we investigate epigenetic gene regulation in S. suis by multiple phasevarions controlled by the phase-variable Type III DNA methyltransferase ModS. This is the first characterized example of a Type III R-M system regulating a phasevarion in a Gram-positive organism. We demonstrate that biphasic ON-OFF switching of ModS expression results in differences in bacterial growth and antibiotic resistance. Understanding the effects of ModS phase variation is required to determine the sta- bly expressed antigenic repertoire of S. suis, which will direct and inform the devel- opment of antimicrobial treatments and vaccines against this important pathogen.
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    Journal Title
    mSphere
    Volume
    6
    Issue
    3
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1128/mSphere.00069-21
    Copyright Statement
    © 2021 Tram et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
    Subject
    Microbiology
    Bacteriology
    Science & Technology
    Life Sciences & Biomedicine
    R-M systems
    Streptococcus suis
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/413127
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    • Journal articles

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