ArticleNucleic acids research2018
A survey of Type III restriction-modification systems reveals numerous, novel epigenetic regulators controlling phase-variable regulons; phasevarions.
Article in Nucleic acids research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Genetic engineering ofMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- Epigenetic Phase Variation in Bacterial Adaptation to Environmental Stress: A Narrative Review.Current microbiology · 2026Review
- The Complex Epigenetic Panorama in the Multipartite Genome of the Nitrogen-Fixing Bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Understanding prokaryotic adaptation through advanced DNA methylation detection techniques.The ISME journal · 2025Review
- Moving toward the Inclusion of Epigenomics in Bacterial Genome Evolution: Perspectives and Challenges.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Phasevarions inMicrobiology spectrum · 2024Article
- A Survey of Archaeal Restriction-Modification Systems.Microorganisms · 2023Article
- AamA-mediated epigenetic control of genome-wide gene expression and phenotypic traits inMicrobial genomics · 2023Article
- Identification and Characterization of a New Regulator, TagR, for Environmental Stress Resistance Based on the DNA Methylome of Streptomyces roseosporus.Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae encodes multiple phase-variable DNA methyltransferases that control distinct phasevarions.Nucleic acids research · 2023Article
- Maximum depth sequencing reveals an ON/OFF replication slippage switch and apparent in vivo selection for bifidobacterial pilus expression.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Impacts ofMicrobial genomics · 2022Article
- DNA Methylation in Prokaryotes.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2022Article
- Restriction endonuclease T.Smu451I with new cleavage specificity-neoschizomer of T.AsuI.Folia microbiologica · 2021Article
- DNA methylation by three Type I restriction modification systems of Escherichia coli does not influence gene regulation of the host bacterium.Nucleic acids research · 2021Article
- Article
- No Change, No Life? What We Know about Phase Variation inMicroorganisms · 2021Review
- Conserved DNA Methyltransferases: A Window into Fundamental Mechanisms of Epigenetic Regulation in Bacteria.Trends in microbiology · 2021Review
- Evolutionary Ecology and Interplay of Prokaryotic Innate and Adaptive Immune Systems.Current biology : CB · 2020Review
- Systematic Analysis of REBASE Identifies Numerous Type I Restriction-Modification Systems with Duplicated, DistinctmSystems · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many bacteria utilize simple DNA sequence repeats as a mechanism to randomly switch genes on and off. This process is called phase variation. Several phase-variable N6-adenine DNA-methyltransferases from Type III restriction-modification systems have been reported in bacterial pathogens. Random switching of DNA methyltransferases changes the global DNA methylation pattern, leading to changes in gene expression. These epigenetic regulatory systems are called phasevarions - phase-variable regulons. The extent of these phase-variable genes in the bacterial kingdom is unknown. Here, we interrogated a database of restriction-modification systems, REBASE, by searching for all simple DNA sequence repeats in mod genes that encode Type III N6-adenine DNA-methyltransferases. We report that 17.4% of Type III mod genes (662/3805) contain simple sequence repeats. Of these, only one-fifth have been previously identified. The newly discovered examples are widely distributed and include many examples in opportunistic pathogens as well as in environmental species. In many cases, multiple phasevarions exist in one genome, with examples of up to 4 independent phasevarions in some species. We found several new types of phase-variable mod genes, including the first example of a phase-variable methyltransferase in pathogenic Escherichia coli. Phasevarions are a common epigenetic regulation contingency strategy used by both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria.
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