title: A Cytosine Methyltransferase Modulates the Cell Envelope Stress Response in the Cholera Pathogen [corrected].
abstract: DNA methylation is a key epigenetic regulator in all domains of life, yet the effects of most bacterial DNA methyltransferases on cellular processes are largely undefined. Here, we used diverse techniques, including bisulfite sequencing, transcriptomics, and transposon insertion site sequencing to extensively characterize a 5-methylcytosine (5mC) methyltransferase, VchM, in the cholera pathogen, Vibrio cholerae. We have comprehensively defined VchM's DNA targets, its genetic interactions and the gene networks that it regulates. Although VchM is a relatively new component of the V. cholerae genome, it is required for optimal V. cholerae growth in vitro and during infection. Unexpectedly, the usually essential σE cell envelope stress pathway is dispensable in ∆vchM V. cholerae, likely due to its lower activation in this mutant and the capacity for VchM methylation to limit expression of some cell envelope modifying genes. Our work illuminates how an acquired DNA methyltransferase can become integrated within complex cell circuits to control critical housekeeping processes.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Disease, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Institute for Genomics and Multi-scale Biology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Shijia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Disease, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Disease, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brigid M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Eric E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Schadt
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Institute for Genomics and Multi-scale Biology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Disease, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.|Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Waldor
mesh_terms: D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004248:DNA (Cytosine-5-)-Methyltransferases