Titre
Cell differentiation to "mating bodies" induced by an integrating and conjugative element in free-living bacteria.
Type
article
Institution
UNIL/CHUV/Unisanté + institutions partenaires
Périodique
Auteur(s)
Reinhard, F.
Auteure/Auteur
Miyazaki, R.
Auteure/Auteur
Pradervand, N.
Auteure/Auteur
van der Meer, J.R.
Auteure/Auteur
Liens vers les personnes
Liens vers les unités
ISSN
1879-0445
Statut éditorial
Publié
Date de publication
2013-02-04
Volume
23
Numéro
3
Première page
255
Dernière page/numéro d’article
259
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Langue
anglais
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: ppublish
Publication Status: ppublish
Résumé
Lateral gene transfer (LGT) is one of the most important processes leading to prokaryotic genome innovation. LGT is typically associated with conjugative plasmids and bacteriophages, but recently, a new class of mobile DNA known as integrating and conjugative elements (ICE) was discovered, which is abundant and widespread among bacterial genomes. By studying at the single-cell level the behavior of a prevalent ICE type in the genus Pseudomonas, we uncover the remarkable way in which the ICE orchestrates host cell differentiation to ensure horizontal transmission. We find that the ICE induces a state of transfer competence (tc) in 3%-5% of cells in a population under nongrowing conditions. ICE factors control the development of tc cells into specific assemblies that we name "mating bodies." Interestingly, cells in mating bodies undergo fewer and slower division than non-tc cells and eventually lyse. Mutations in ICE genes disrupting mating-body formation lead to 5-fold decreased ICE transfer rates. Hence, by confining the tc state to a small proportion of the population, ICE horizontal transmission is achieved with little cost in terms of vertical transmission. Given the low transfer frequencies of most ICE, we anticipate regulation by subpopulation differentiation to be widespread.
PID Serval
serval:BIB_9AC49313302F
PMID
Open Access
Oui
Date de création
2013-05-21T12:21:30.669Z
Date de création dans IRIS
2025-05-20T21:36:10Z