title: Plasmids derived from Gifsy-1/Gifsy-2, lambdoid prophages contributing to the virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium: implications for the evolution of replication initiation proteins of lambdoid phages and enterobacteria.
abstract: Gifsy-1 and Gifsy-2 are lambdoid prophages which contribute to the virulence of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The nucleotide sequence of the replication region of both prophages is identical, and similar in organization to the replication region of bacteriophage lambda. To investigate the replication of the Gifsy phages and the relationship between Gifsy and host chromosome replication, a plasmid which contained all the genes and regulatory sequences required for autonomous replication in bacterial cells was constructed. This plasmid, pGifsy, was stably maintained in Escherichia coli cells. The helicase loader of the Gifsy phages is very similar to the DnaC protein of the host, a feature characteristic of a large group of prophages common in the sequenced genomes of pathogenic enterobacteria. This DnaC-like protein showed no similarity to the helicase loader of bacteriophage lambda and closely related phages. Interestingly, unlike plasmids derived from bacteriophage lambda (lambda plasmids), pGifsy did not require a gene encoding the putative helicase loader for replication, although deletion of this gene resulted in a decrease in plasmid copy number. Under these conditions, it was shown that the plasmid utilized the helicase loader coded by the host. On the other hand, the viral protein could not substitute for DnaC in bacterial chromosome replication. The results of the current study support the hypothesis that the enterobacterial helicase loader is of viral origin. This hypothesis explains why the gene for DnaC, the protein central to both replication initiation and replication restart in E. coli, is present in the genomes of Escherichia, Shigella, Salmonella and Buchnera, but not in the genomes of related enterobacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Gdańsk, Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Bartosz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Słomiński
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Całkiewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Gdańsk, Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Golec
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland.|Department of Molecular Biology, University of Gdańsk, Kładki 24, 80-822 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Węgrzyn
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Marine Biotechnology, Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland.
authors.forename: Borys
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wróbel
mesh_terms: D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D020635:Buchnera / Q000235:genetics; D004265:DNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics*; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D010802:Phylogeny; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D039002:Prophages / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000821:virology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012760:Shigella / Q000235:genetics; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C071702:DnaC protein, E coli; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; C045264:replication initiator protein; D004265:DNA Helicases