Published in

Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(5), 2014

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6322

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Multiple enzymatic activities of ParB/Srx superfamily mediate sexual conflict among conjugative plasmids

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Red circle
Postprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Conjugative plasmids are typically locked in intergenomic and sexual conflicts with coresident rivals, whose translocation they block using fertility inhibition factors (FINs). We describe here the first crystal structure of an enigmatic FIN Osa deployed by the proteobacterial plasmid pSa. Osa contains a catalytically active version of the ParB/Sulfiredoxin fold with both ATPase and DNase activity, the latter being regulated by an ATP-dependent switch. Using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens VirB/D4 type-IV secretion system (T4SS), a relative of the conjugative T4SS, we demonstrate that catalytically active Osa blocks T-DNA transfer into plants. With a partially reconstituted T4SS in vitro, we show that Osa degrades T-DNA in the T-DNA-VirD2 complex prior to its translocation. Further, we present evidence for conservation and interplay between ATPase and DNase activities throughout the ParB/Sulfiredoxin fold, using other members of the family, namely P1 ParB and RK2 KorB, which have general functional implications across diverse biological contexts.