Plasticity of repetitive DNA sequences within a bacterial (Type IV) secretion system component.
DNA rearrangement permits bacteria to regulate gene content and expression. In Helicobacter pylori, cagY, which contains an extraordinary number of direct DNA repeats, encodes a surface-exposed subunit of a (type IV) bacterial secretory system. Examining potential DNA rearrangements involving the cagY repeats indicated that recombination events invariably yield in-frame open reading frames, producing alternatively expressed genes. In individual hosts, H. pylori cell populations include strains that produce CagY proteins that differ in size, due to the predicted in-frame deletions or duplications, and elicit minimal or no host antibody recognition. Using repetitive DNA, H. pylori rearrangements in a host-exposed subunit of a conserved bacterial secretion system may permit a novel form of antigenic evasion.
Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, and VA Medical Center, NY 10016, USA. aras@cshl.edu
Rahul A
RA
Aras
Wolfgang
W
Fischer
Guillermo I
GI
Perez-Perez
MariaLuisa
M
Crosatti
Takafumi
T
Ando
Rainer
R
Haas
Martin J
MJ
Blaser
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics*; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial