title: The DNA-Uptake Process of Naturally Competent Vibrio cholerae.
abstract: The sophisticated DNA-uptake machinery used during natural transformation is still poorly characterized, especially in Gram-negative bacteria where the transforming DNA has to cross two membranes as well as the peptidoglycan layer before entering the cytoplasm. The DNA-uptake machinery was hypothesized to take the form of a pseudopilus, which, upon repeated cycles of extension and retraction, would pull external DNA towards the cell surface or into the periplasmic space, followed by translocation across the cytoplasmic membrane. In this review, we summarize recent advances on the DNA-uptake machinery of V. cholerae, highlighting the presence of an extended competence-induced pilus and the contribution of a conserved DNA-binding protein that acts as a ratchet and reels DNA into the periplasm.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, Station 19, EPFL-SV-UPBLO, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Noémie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matthey
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, Station 19, EPFL-SV-UPBLO, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: melanie.blokesch@epfl.ch.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blokesch
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Brownian ratchet; DNA translocation; nanomachine; natural competence; transformation; type IV pilus