ArticleJournal of bacteriology2011
Antibiotics and UV radiation induce competence for natural transformation in Legionella pneumophila.
Article in Journal of bacteriology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
71 citing papers in PubMed, 129 citations in OpenAlex.
- Structure and biochemistry reveal substrate-modulated ComEC nuclease activity during DNA processing.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Review
- Genetic and functional characterization of the natural transformation system inMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- A WYL transcriptional regulator activates the DNA damage response pathway in Acinetobacter species.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Molecular interplay between ComEC domains allows for selective degradation of the non-translocating strand during natural transformation.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system involved in an unusual response to genotoxic stress.EMBO reports · 2025Article
- The diverse phenotypic and mutational landscape induced by fluoroquinolone treatment.mSystems · 2025Article
- Molecular mechanisms and applications of natural transformation in bacteria.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Unveiling FDA-approved Drugs and Formulations in the Management of Bladder Cancer: A Review.Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2025Review
- Small molecule communication ofMicrobiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2024Review
- Effect of chemotherapeutic agents on natural transformation frequency in Acinetobacter baylyi.Access microbiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Antidepressants can induce mutation and enhance persistence toward multiple antibiotics.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2023Article
- Plasmids Can Shift Bacterial Morphological Response against Antibiotic Stress.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2023Article
- DNA Gyrase Inhibitors Increase the Frequency of Bacteriophage-like RcGTA-Mediated Gene Transfer inGenes · 2022Article
- Proteome Exploration ofMicrobiology spectrum · 2022Article
- Antidepressants promote the spread of extracellular antibiotic resistance genes via transformation.ISME communications · 2022Article
- The molecular basis of FimT-mediated DNA uptake during bacterial natural transformation.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Differences in UV-C LED Inactivation ofMicroorganisms · 2022Article
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Natural transformation by competence is a major mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria. Competence is defined as the genetically programmed physiological state that enables bacteria to actively take up DNA from the environment. The conditions that signal competence development are multiple and elusive, complicating the understanding of its evolutionary significance. We used expression of the competence gene comEA as a reporter of competence development and screened several hundred molecules for their ability to induce competence in the freshwater living pathogen Legionella pneumophila. We found that comEA expression is induced by chronic exposure to genotoxic molecules such as mitomycin C and antibiotics of the fluoroquinolone family. These results indicated that, in L. pneumophila, competence may be a response to genotoxic stress. Sunlight-emitted UV light represents a major source of genotoxic stress in the environment and we found that exposure to UV radiation effectively induces competence development. For the first time, we show that genetic exchanges by natural transformation occur within an UV-stressed population. Genotoxic stress induces the RecA-dependent SOS response in many bacteria. However, genetic and phenotypic evidence suggest that L. pneumophila lacks a prototypic SOS response and competence development in response to genotoxic stress is RecA independent. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that competence may have evolved as a DNA damage response in SOS-deficient bacteria. This parasexual response to DNA damage may have enabled L. pneumophila to acquire and propagate foreign genes, contributing to the emergence of this human pathogen.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.