ArticlePloS one2015
55.2, a phage T4 ORFan gene, encodes an inhibitor of Escherichia coli topoisomerase I and increases phage fitness.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Search for Specific Inhibitors Targeting Type IA Topoisomerases.Journal of molecular biology · 2026Review
- The spike tip protein of bacteriophage T4.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Phage Therapy: A Promising Treatment Strategy against Infections Caused by Multidrug-resistantCurrent pharmaceutical design · 2025Review
- AraC Functional Suppressors of Mutations in the C-Terminal Domain of the RpoA Subunit of theMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- Control of lysogeny and antiphage defense by a prophage-encoded kinase-phosphatase module.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Transcriptional Organization of theInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- The novel anti-CRISPR AcrIIA22 relieves DNA torsion in target plasmids and impairs SpyCas9 activity.PLoS biology · 2021Article
- Type IA Topoisomerases as Targets for Infectious Disease Treatments.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- The Stringent Response Inhibits DNA Replication Initiation in E. coli by Modulating Supercoiling ofmBio · 2019Article
- Mechanism and resistance for antimycobacterial activity of a fluoroquinophenoxazine compound.PloS one · 2019Article
- An endogenous protein inhibitor, YjhX (TopAI), for topoisomerase I from Escherichia coli.Nucleic acids research · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Topoisomerases are enzymes that alter the topological properties of DNA. Phage T4 encodes its own topoisomerase but it can also utilize host-encoded topoisomerases. Here we characterized 55.2, a phage T4 predicted ORF of unknown function. High levels of expression of the cloned 55.2 gene are toxic in E. coli. This toxicity is suppressed either by increased topoisomerase I expression or by partial inactivation of the ATPase subunit of the DNA gyrase. Interestingly, very low-level expression of 55.2, which is non-lethal to wild type E. coli, prevents the growth of a deletion mutant of the topoisomerase I (topA) gene. In vitro, gp55.2 binds DNA and blocks specifically the relaxation of negatively supercoiled DNA by topoisomerase I. In vivo, expression of gp55.2 at low non-toxic levels alters the steady state DNA supercoiling of a reporter plasmid. Although 55.2 is not an essential gene, competition experiments indicate that it is required for optimal phage growth. We propose that the role of gp55.2 is to subtly modulate host topoisomerase I activity during infection to insure optimal T4 phage yield.
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