Dam methylation: coordinating cellular processes

Anders Løbner-Olesen, Ole Skovgaard, Martin G Marinus

176 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

GATC sequences in Escherichia coli DNA are methylated at the adenine residue by DNA adenine methyltransferase (DamMT). These methylated residues and/or the level of DamMT can influence cellular functions such as gene transcription, DNA mismatch repair, initiation of chromosome replication and nucleoid structure. In certain bacteria, unlike E. coli, DamMT is essential for viability perhaps owing to its role in chromosome replication. DamMT has also been implicated as a virulence factor in bacterial pathogenesis. The origin and phylogeny of DamMT, based on sequenced genomes, has been deduced.

Original languageEnglish
JournalCurrent Opinion in Microbiology
Volume8
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)154-60
Number of pages7
ISSN1369-5274
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2005

Keywords

  • Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
  • DNA Methylation
  • DNA, Bacterial/metabolism
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
  • Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific)/genetics

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