Fusion of hairpin telomeres by the B. burgdorferi telomere resolvase ResT implications for shaping a genome in flux.
Spirochetes of the genus Borrelia include the causative agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever. These bacteria have a highly segmented genome where most replicons are linear molecules terminated by covalently closed hairpin telomeres. Moreover, these genomes appear to be in a state of flux with extensive and ongoing DNA rearrangements by unknown mechanisms. The B. burgdorferi telomere resolvase ResT generates the hairpin telomeres from replication intermediates in a reaction with mechanistic similarities to that catalyzed by type IB topoisomerases and tyrosine recombinases. We report here the unexpected ability of ResT to catalyze the fusion of hairpin telomeres in a reversal of the telomere resolution reaction. We propose that stabilized ResT-mediated telomere fusions are an underlying force for maintaining the B. burgdorferi genome in a state of flux.
Kobryn
Kerri
K
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada.
Chaconas
George
G
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D004261:DNA Replication; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases; C446515:ResT protein, Borrelia