title: Spontaneous modulation of a dynamic balance between bacterial genomic stability and mutability: roles and molecular mechanisms of the genetic switch.
abstract: Bacteria need a high degree of genetic stability to maintain their species identities over long evolutionary times while retaining some mutability to adapt to the changing environment. It is a long unanswered question that how bacteria reconcile these seemingly contradictory biological properties. We hypothesized that certain mechanisms must maintain a dynamic balance between genetic stability and mutability for the survival and evolution of bacterial species. To identify such mechanisms, we analyzed bacterial genomes, focusing on the Salmonella mismatch repair (MMR) system. We found that the MMR gene mutL functions as a genetic switch through a slipped-strand mispairing mechanism, modulating and maintaining a dynamic balance between genetic stability and mutability during bacterial evolution. This mechanism allows bacteria to maintain their phylogenetic status, while also adapting to changing environments by acquiring novel traits. In this review, we outline the history of research into this genetic switch, from its discovery to the latest findings, and discuss its potential roles in the genomic evolution of bacteria.
authors: Genomics Research Center, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China.
authors: Le
authors: L
authors: Tang
authors: Genomics Research Center, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China.
authors: RuoWei
authors: R
authors: Liu
authors: Genomics Research Center, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China.
authors: Gang
authors: G
authors: Jin
authors: Genomics Research Center, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China.
authors: ErYing
authors: E
authors: Zhao
authors: Genomics Research Center, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China. grliu.natsumi@gmail.com.
authors: GuiRong
authors: G
authors: Liu
authors: Genomics Research Center, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China. slliu@ucalgary.ca.|Department of Biopharmaceutics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China. slliu@ucalgary.ca.|HMU-UCFM Center for Infection and Genomics, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150081, China. slliu@ucalgary.ca.|Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Calgary, T2N 1N4, Canada. slliu@ucalgary.ca.
authors: ShuLin
authors: S
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D053843:DNA Mismatch Repair / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D042822:Genomic Instability; D009154:Mutation; D012475:Salmonella / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases