Download MendeleyFunctional diversification despite structural congruence in the HipBST toxin-antitoxin system of Legionella pneumophila.
Lin, J.D., Stogios, P.J., Abe, K.T., Wang, A., MacPherson, J., Skarina, T., Gingras, A.-.C., Savchenko, A., Ensminger, A.W.(2023) mBio 14: e0151023-e0151023
- PubMed: 37819088
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.01510-23
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
8EZR, 8EZS, 8EZT - PubMed Abstract:
Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are parasitic genetic elements found in almost all bacterial genomes. They are exchanged horizontally between cells and are typically poorly conserved across closely related strains and species. Here, we report the characterization of a tripartite TA system in the bacterial pathogen Legionella pneumophila that is highly conserved across Legionella species genomes. This system (denoted HipBST Lp ) is a distant homolog of the recently discovered split-HipA system in Escherichia coli (HipBST Ec ). We present bioinformatic, molecular, and structural analyses of the divergence between these two systems and the functionality of this newly described TA system family. Furthermore, we provide evidence to refute previous claims that the toxin in this system (HipT Lp ) possesses bifunctionality as an L. pneumophila virulence protein. Overall, this work expands our understanding of the split-HipA system architecture and illustrates the potential for undiscovered biology in these abundant genetic elements.
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto , Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Organizational Affiliation:
