The phasevarion: a genetic system controlling coordinated, random switching of expression of multiple genes.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 15802471.
- Also identified by PMC identifier 556257.
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Abstract
Several host-adapted bacterial pathogens contain methyltransferases associated with type III restriction-modification (R-M) systems that are subject to reversible, high-frequency on/off switching of expression (phase variation). To investigate the role of phase-variable expression of R-M systems, we made a mutant strain lacking the methyltransferase (mod) associated with a type III R-M system of Haemophilus influenzae and analyzed its phenotype. By microarray analysis, we identified a number of genes that were either up- or down-regulated in the mod mutant strain. This system reports the coordinated random switching of a set of genes in a bacterial pathogen and may represent a widely used mechanism.
Medical subject headings
- DNA Modification Methylases
- Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
- Genes, Bacterial
- Haemophilus influenzae