title: Phosphorothioation of DNA in bacteria by dnd genes.
abstract: Modifications of the canonical structures of DNA and RNA play critical roles in cell physiology, DNA replication, transcription and translation in all organisms. We now report that bacterial dnd gene clusters incorporate sulfur into the DNA backbone as a sequence-selective, stereospecific phosphorothioate modification. To our knowledge, unlike any other DNA or RNA modification systems, DNA phosphorothioation by dnd gene clusters is the first physiological modification described on the DNA backbone.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism and School of Life Science & Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, 1954 Huashan Road, Shanghai 200030, China.
authors.forename: Lianrong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Tiegang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Koli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taghizadeh
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wishnok
authors.forename: Xiufen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Delin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Zixin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Peter C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Dedon
mesh_terms: D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D010766:Phosphorylation; D048170:Streptomyces lividans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds