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Morgan, R. D.

Publications and source records attributed to Morgan, R. D..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Genome archeology of two laboratory Salmonella enterica enterica sv Typhimurium

The Salmonella research community has used strains and bacteriophages over decades, exchanging useful new isolates among laboratories for study of cell surface antigens, metabolic pathways and restriction-modification studies. Here we present the sequences of two laboratory Salmonella strains (STK005, an isolate of LB5000; and its descendant ER3625). In the ancestry of LB5000, segments of ~15 and ~42 kb were introduced from Salmonella enterica sv Abony 103 into Salmonella enterica sv Typhimurium LT2, forming strain SD14; this strain is thus a hybrid of S. enterica isolates. Strains in the SD14 lineage were used to define flagellar antigens from the 1950s to the 1970s, and to define three restriction-modification systems from the 1960s to the 1980s. LB5000 was also used as host in phage typing systems used by epidemiologists. In the age of cheaper and easier sequencing, this resource will provide access to the sequence that underlies the extensive literature.

genomics

Coordination of phage genome degradation versus host genome protection by a bifunctional restriction-modification enzyme visualized by CryoEM

Restriction enzymes that combine DNA methylation and cleavage activities into a single polypeptide or protein assemblage and that modify just one DNA strand for host protection are capable of more efficient adaptation towards novel target sites. However, they must solve the problem of discrimination between newly replicated and unmodified host sites (needing methylation) and invasive foreign site (needing to lead to cleavage). One solution to this problem might be that the activity that occurs at any given site is dictated by the oligomeric state of the bound enzyme. Methylation requires just a single bound site and is relatively slow, while cleavage requires that multiple unmethylated target sites (often found in incoming, foreign DNA) be brought together into an enzyme-DNA complex to license rapid cleavage. To validate and visualize the basis for such a mechanism, we have determined the catalytic behavior of a bifunctional Type IIL restriction-modification ( RM) enzyme (DrdV) and determined its high-resolution structure at several different stages of assembly and coordination with multiple bound DNA targets using CryoEM. The structures demonstrate a mechanism of cleavage by which an initial dimer is formed between two DNA-bound enzyme molecules, positioning the single endonuclease domain from each enzyme against the others DNA and requiring further oligomerization through differing protein-protein contacts of additional DNA-bound enzyme molecules to enable cleavage. The analysis explains how endonuclease activity is licensed by the presence of multiple target-containing DNA duplexes and provides a clear view of the assembly through 3D space of a DNA-bound RM enzyme synapse that leads to rapid cleavage of foreign DNA.

biochemistry