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Identification of DNA Methyltransferase Genes in Human Pathogenic Bacteria by Comparative Genomics

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Abstract

DNA methylation plays an important role in gene expression and virulence in some pathogenic bacteria. In this report, we describe DNA methyltransferases (MTases) present in human pathogenic bacteria and compared them with related species, which are not pathogenic or less pathogenic, based in comparative genomics. We performed a search in the KEGG database of the KEGG database orthology groups associated with adenine and cytosine DNA MTase activities (EC: 2.1.1.37, EC: 2.1.1.113 and EC: 2.1.1.72) in 37 human pathogenic species and 18 non/less pathogenic relatives and performed comparisons of the number of these MTases sequences according to their genome size, the DNA MTase type and with their non-less pathogenic relatives. We observed that Helicobacter pylori and Neisseria spp. presented the highest number of MTases while ten different species did not present a predicted DNA MTase. We also detected a significant increase of adenine MTases over cytosine MTases (2.19 vs. 1.06, respectively, p < 0.001). Adenine MTases were the only MTases associated with restriction modification systems and DNA MTases associated with type I restriction modification systems were more numerous than those associated with type III restriction modification systems (0.84 vs. 0.17, p < 0.001); additionally, there was no correlation with the genome size and the total number of DNA MTases, indicating that the number of DNA MTases is related to the particular evolution and lifestyle of specific species, regulating the expression of virulence genes in some pathogenic bacteria.

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Acknowledgments

We want to thank to DGAPA/UNAM for the postdoctoral scholarship granted to AJL Brambila-Tapia. Support from DGAPA-UNAM PAPIIT IN 107214 is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Fisiología, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de La Salud (CUCS), Universidad de Guadalajara, Sierra Mojada #800, Colonia Independencia, 44340, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

    Aniel Jessica Leticia Brambila-Tapia

  2. Departamento de Ingeniería de Sistemas Computacionales y Automatización, Instituto de Investigación en Matemáticas Aplicadas y Sistemas (IIMAS), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Escolar #300, 04510, Ciudad Universitaria, Distrito Federal, Mexico

    Aniel Jessica Leticia Brambila-Tapia & Katya Rodríguez-Vázquez

  3. Departamento de Ingeniería celular y biocatálisis, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Augusto Cesar Poot-Hernández & Ernesto Perez-Rueda

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  1. Aniel Jessica Leticia Brambila-Tapia
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  2. Augusto Cesar Poot-Hernández
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  3. Ernesto Perez-Rueda
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Correspondence to Aniel Jessica Leticia Brambila-Tapia or Katya Rodríguez-Vázquez.

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Supplementary Table

Organisms with a MamA homolog (XLSX 46 kb)

Supplementary Figure

Consensus sequences of each KO analyzed. Footnote: The asterisks represent the catalytic amino acids (DOCX 91 kb)

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Brambila-Tapia, A.J.L., Poot-Hernández, A.C., Perez-Rueda, E. et al. Identification of DNA Methyltransferase Genes in Human Pathogenic Bacteria by Comparative Genomics. Indian J Microbiol 56, 134–141 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-015-0562-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-015-0562-4

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