title: Characterization of a chromosomal toxin-antitoxin, Rv1102c-Rv1103c system in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: Toxin-antitoxin systems, ubiquitous in prokaryotic genomes, have been proposed to play an important role in several stress responses. While Mycobacterium tuberculosis contains more than 80 putative TA loci, the roles they play in this pathogen are yet to be studied. Here, we characterize a chromosomal Rv1102c-Rv1103c TA system in M. tuberculosis. We found that the Rv1102c toxin interacts with the Rv1103c antitoxin in a pull-down assay and the yeast two-hybrid system. Rv1102c cleaved the era mRNA in Escherichia coli, and cleavage was inhibited by co-expression of Rv1103c. Heterologous expression of Rv1102c led to growth arrest in E. coli, which was fully recovered only when Rv1103c was co-expressed in cis with Rv1102c, suggesting that the production and assembly of Rv1102c and Rv1103c are tightly linked. Our additional results indicate that translational coupling of the Rv1102c and Rv1103c genes is important for Rv1102c-Rv1103c binding. Finally, we discovered that the expression of Rv1102c induced growth arrest and increased the level of persister cells in Mycobacterium smegmatis. These results suggest that the Rv1102c-Rv1103c TA system could play a role in M. tuberculosis pathogenesis via generating bacilli that survive in the face of multidrug therapy.
authors: Department of Biological Sciences, Myongji University, San 38-2 Namdong, Yongin, Gyeonggido 449-728, Republic of Korea.
authors: Jeong-Sun
authors: JS
authors: Han
authors: Jae Jin
authors: JJ
authors: Lee
authors: Tripti
authors: T
authors: Anandan
authors: Minghui
authors: M
authors: Zeng
authors: Srinivas
authors: S
authors: Sripathi
authors: Wan Jin
authors: WJ
authors: Jahng
authors: Sang Hee
authors: SH
authors: Lee
authors: Joo-Won
authors: JW
authors: Suh
authors: Choong-Min
authors: CM
authors: Kang
mesh_terms: D000992:Antitoxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000992:Antitoxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D012333:RNA, Messenger