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Published online on August 16, 2005, 10.1073/pnas.0505835102
PNAS | August 30, 2005 | vol. 102 | no. 35 | 12554-12559


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MICROBIOLOGY
Regulation of a Bacillus subtilis mobile genetic element by intercellular signaling and the global DNA damage response

Jennifer M. Auchtung, Catherine A. Lee, Rita E. Monson *, Alisa P. Lehman, and Alan D. Grossman {dagger}

Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139

Communicated by Robert T. Sauer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, July 12, 2005 (received for review June 16, 2005)

Horizontal gene transfer contributes to the evolution of bacterial species. Mobile genetic elements play an important role in horizontal gene transfer, and characterization of the regulation of these elements should provide insight into conditions that influence bacterial evolution. We characterized a mobile genetic element, ICEBs1, in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis and found that it is a functional integrative and conjugative element (ICE) capable of transferring to Bacillus and Listeria species. We identified two conditions that promote ICEBs1 transfer: conditions that induce the global DNA damage response and crowding by potential recipients that lack ICEBs1. Transfer of ICEBs1 into cells that already contain the element is inhibited by an intercellular signaling peptide encoded by ICEBs1. The dual regulation of ICEBs1 allows for passive propagation in the host cell until either the potential mating partners lacking ICEBs1 are present or the host cell is in distress.

conjugation | horizontal gene transfer | quorum sensing | peptide signaling | DNA microarrays

Author contributions: J.M.A. and A.D.G. designed research; J.M.A., C.A.L., R.E.M., and A.P.L. performed research; J.M.A. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; J.M.A. and A.D.G. analyzed data; and J.M.A., C.A.L., and A.D.G. wrote the paper.

Abbreviations: att, attachment; ICE, integrative and conjugative element; IPTG, isopropyl-{beta}-D-thiogalactopyranoside; MMC, mitomycin C; Opp, oligopeptide permease; SOS, global DNA damage.

* Present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QW, United Kingdom.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Biology, Building 68-530, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139. E-mail: adg{at}mit.edu.

© 2005 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA


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