Abstract
The genomes of bacteria, archaea, and phage contain small amounts of C5-methylcytosine, N4-methylcytosine, and N6-methyladenine. Base methylation takes place after DNA replication and is catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases that recognize specific target sequences. Prokaryotic DNA methyltransferases can be classified into two main types: (1) belonging to restriction-modification systems and (2) solitary (or “orphan”) enzymes that lack a restriction enzyme partner. All known roles of DNA methylation involve control of interactions between DNA-binding proteins and their cognate sites. Such roles include protection from DNA restriction, strand discrimination during mismatch repair, cell cycle control, and regulation of transcription. DNA methylation often affects the interaction of bacterial pathogens with their hosts, raising the possibility of epigenetic therapies for infectious diseases.
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Abbreviations
- CcrM:
-
Cell-cycle regulated DNA methyltransferase
- Mod:
-
Modification protein in restriction-modification systems
- oriC :
-
Origin of replication in the E. coli chromosome
- R:
-
Purine moiety (A or G) in a nucleotide sequence
- SAM:
-
S-adenosyl-L-methionine
- SMRT:
-
Single molecule real time
- SPI-1:
-
Salmonella pathogenicity island 1
- UAS:
-
Upstream activating sequence
- Y:
-
Pyrimidine moiety (C or T) in a nucleotide sequence
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Research in our laboratory is supported by grant PID2020-116995RB-I00 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain and the European Regional Fund.
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Casadesús, J., Sánchez-Romero, M.A. (2022). DNA Methylation in Prokaryotes. In: Jeltsch, A., Jurkowska, R.Z. (eds) DNA Methyltransferases - Role and Function. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1389. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-11454-0_2
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