Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1991 Nov;173(21):7059–7062. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.21.7059-7062.1991

Unique modification of adenine in genomic DNA of the marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium sp. strain NIBB 1067.

J P Zehr 1, K Ohki 1, Y Fujita 1, D Landry 1
PMCID: PMC209068  PMID: 1657876

Abstract

The genomic DNA of the marine nonheterocystous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Trichodesmium sp. strain NIBB 1067 was found to be highly resistant to DNA restriction endonucleases. The DNA was digested extensively by the restriction enzyme DpnI, which requires adenine methylation for activity. The DNA composition, determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), was found to be 69% AT. Surprisingly, it was found that a modified adenine which was not methylated at the usual N6 position was present and made up 4.7 mol% of the nucleosides in Trichodesmium DNA (15 mol% of deoxyadenosine). In order for adenine residues to be modified at this many positions, there must be many modifying enzymes or at least one of the modifying enzymes must have a degenerate recognition site. The reason(s) for this extensive methylation has not yet been determined but may have implications for the ecological success of this microorganism in nature.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

7060FIG. 1
on p.7060
7060FIG. 2
on p.7060

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Arber W., Linn S. DNA modification and restriction. Annu Rev Biochem. 1969;38:467–500. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.38.070169.002343. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barbeyron T., Kean K., Forterre P. DNA adenine methylation of GATC sequences appeared recently in the Escherichia coli lineage. J Bacteriol. 1984 Nov;160(2):586–590. doi: 10.1128/jb.160.2.586-590.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Capone D. G., O'neil J. M., Zehr J., Carpenter E. J. Basis for Diel Variation in Nitrogenase Activity in the Marine Planktonic Cyanobacterium Trichodesmium thiebautii. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1990 Nov;56(11):3532–3536. doi: 10.1128/aem.56.11.3532-3536.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Ehrlich M., Wang R. Y. 5-Methylcytosine in eukaryotic DNA. Science. 1981 Jun 19;212(4501):1350–1357. doi: 10.1126/science.6262918. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Jäger K., Potts M. Distinct fractions of genomic DNA from cyanobacterium Nostoc commune that differ in the degree of methylation. Gene. 1988 Dec 25;74(1):197–201. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(88)90286-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kessler C., Manta V. Specificity of restriction endonucleases and DNA modification methyltransferases a review (Edition 3). Gene. 1990 Aug 16;92(1-2):1–248. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(90)90486-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lambert G. R., Carr N. G. Resistance of DNA from filamentous and unicellular cyanobacteria to restriction endonuclease cleavage. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1984 Feb 24;781(1-2):45–55. doi: 10.1016/0167-4781(84)90122-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Padhy R. N., Hottat F. G., Coene M. M., Hoet P. P. Restriction analysis and quantitative estimation of methylated bases of filamentous and unicellular cyanobacterial DNAs. J Bacteriol. 1988 Apr;170(4):1934–1939. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.4.1934-1939.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Razin A., Riggs A. D. DNA methylation and gene function. Science. 1980 Nov 7;210(4470):604–610. doi: 10.1126/science.6254144. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Reaston J., Duyvesteyn G. C., de Waard A. Nostoc PCC7524, a cyanobacterium which contains five sequence-specific deoxyribonucleases. Gene. 1982 Nov;20(1):103–110. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90091-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Xia Y. N., Burbank D. E., Uher L., Rabussay D., Van Etten J. L. IL-3A virus infection of a Chlorella-like green alga induces a DNA restriction endonuclease with novel sequence specificity. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987 Aug 11;15(15):6075–6090. doi: 10.1093/nar/15.15.6075. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Zehr J. P., McReynolds L. A. Use of degenerate oligonucleotides for amplification of the nifH gene from the marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium thiebautii. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1989 Oct;55(10):2522–2526. doi: 10.1128/aem.55.10.2522-2526.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Zehr J. P., Ohki K., Fujita Y. Arrangement of nitrogenase structural genes in an aerobic filamentous nonheterocystous cyanobacterium. J Bacteriol. 1991 Nov;173(21):7055–7058. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.21.7055-7058.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES