A novel retron of Vibrio parahaemolyticus is closely related to retron-Vc95 of Vibrio cholerae

J Microbiol. 2013 Jun;51(3):323-8. doi: 10.1007/s12275-013-2715-7. Epub 2013 Jun 28.

Abstract

Some bacteria produce a satellite RNA-DNA complex termed msDNA, multicopy single-stranded DNA. In this report, msDNA from Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a cause of acute gastroenteritis, was identified and named msDNA-Vp96. The retron element containing the ret gene, encoding the reverse transcriptase (RT) that is responsible for msDNA production, was cloned and characterized. Comparison of msDNA-Vp96 and msDNA-Vc95, from Vibrio cholerae, showed a high level of sequence similarity. We exchanged the two ret genes to examine whether msDNA was produced by the RT from different sources. We found that RT-Vp96 of V. parahaemolyticus was able to synthesize msDNA-Vc95 of V. cholerae and vice versa. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report that RT from different bacterial species can synthesize msDNA.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • DNA, Single-Stranded / genetics*
  • RNA, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Vibrio cholerae / genetics*
  • Vibrio parahaemolyticus / genetics*

Substances

  • DNA, Single-Stranded
  • RNA, Bacterial
  • msDNA