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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2006, p. 5728-5733, Vol. 72, No. 9
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.00707-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology, Shanghai Institutes of Biological Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai,1 College of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, National Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resources Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai,2 Institute of Microbiology, Yunnan University, Kunming,3 Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China4
Received 28 March 2006/ Accepted 8 June 2006
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8-Mb linear Streptomyces chromosomes are 46 bp to 1
Mb long (14,
29). With the exceptions
of the telomeres of the large linear plasmid SCP1 and the
Streptomyces griseus linear chromosome
(9,
18),
Streptomyces linear plasmids and linear chromosomes usually
contain conserved palindromic DNA sequences at their telomeres
(13).
Unlike the
terminal protein-capped linear replicons of adenoviruses and
bacteriophage
29
(25), replication of
Streptomyces linear plasmids starts at centrally located loci
(27) and proceeds
bidirectionally toward the telomeres
(5). This leaves an
280-nucleotide (nt) single-strand overhang at the 3'
telomeric end of pSLA2 as a replication intermediate
(5). To convert the
3' overhang to a double strand, the terminal 144 nt of the
telomere contain short palindromes 1 to 5
(22), with palindromes
2/3 being bound by the conserved telomere-associated protein (Tap) to
recruit the conserved telomere terminal protein (Tp)
(1,
2).
Streptomyces linear plasmids can also propagate in circular mode when the telomeres are deleted (5, 10, 24, 27). The centrally located locus for replication of pSLA2 consists of a rep-2 gene (encoding a DNA helicase) and its adjacent iterons within a transcribed rep-1 gene (6). The replication loci of plasmids SCP1 and pSLA2-L also consist of rep genes and different iteron sequences (10, 24). Such iterons-rep loci were revealed by complete nucleotide sequencing of other Streptomyces linear plasmids (such as pSCL1 and SLP2 [12, 30]).
Do the
conserved telomere palindromic sequences, tap/tpg
genes, and iterons-rep loci exist widely among larger
populations of Streptomyces linear replicons? By investigating
100 Streptomyces strains, we show here that nearly
half of the linear plasmid-harboring Streptomyces strains lack
highly conserved tap/tpg sequences. Consistent with
this, two novel and one conserved telomere palindromic sequence were
identified on plasmids in the corresponding Streptomyces
strains. The complete nucleotide sequences of the three plasmids showed
no typical iterons-rep loci, and one plasmid carried two genes
encoding proteins resembling Tap of Streptomyces and a portion
of the telomere terminal protein pTP of
adenoviruses.
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(Life Technologies Inc.) and plasmid pBluescript II SK
(Stratagene) were used as the cloning host and vector, respectively.
Plasmid isolation, transformation, and PCR amplification were done
following the methods of Sambrook et al.
(26). Streptomyces
lividans ZX7 was the host for propagating plasmids.
Streptomyces culture, plasmid isolation, pulsed-field gel
electrophoresis, preparation of protoplasts, and transformation were
done following the methods of Kieser et al.
(17). Isolation of
nondenatured plasmid DNA followed the method of Qin and Cohen
(22). The
80
Streptomyces strains, isolated from Yunnan Province, China,
and identified by the standard procedures of actinomycete
classification, were provided by Jiang Chenglin and Xu Lihua. The
20 Streptomyces strains, isolated from Hunan
Province, China, and identified by PCR sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene,
were provided by Fang Ping. The sequences of the telomere terminal
proteins (Tp) of Streptomyces coelicolor, S.
lividans, and Streptomyces rochei were aligned, and the
highly conserved amino acid regions were chosen to design a pair of
oligonucleotides (for tpgC nt 77 to 96, 5'
CGCAGATGCGGTACCTGGTC 3'; for tpgC nt 281 to
262, 5' GTGGTTGCCGCCTTCTGCCG 3').
Similarly, oligonucleotides from the conserved sequences of the
telomere-associated protein (Tap) were for tapC nt 566 to 585
(5' GCGGCCTGGTCCTGGACGTG 3') and
tapC nt 1676 to 1657 (5'
AGGTCGGACATCGTGGCGAG
3').
DNA sequencing and analysis.
About 10
µg DNA of pRL1 and pRL2 was purified from pulsed-field gels.
After shotgun cloning, PCR sequencing was done on an Applied Biosystems
model 377 genetic analyzer at the Chinese Human Genome Center in
Shanghai. Analysis of protein coding regions was performed with
FramePlot 3.0 beta (15;
http://watson.nih.go.jp/
jun/cgi-bin/frameplot-3.0b.pl).
Sequence comparisons and protein domain searching were done with
software from the National Center for Biotechnology Information
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST/).
DNA secondary structures (e.g., direct repeats and inverted repeats)
were predicted with DNA Folder
(www.bioinfo.rpi.edu/applications/mfold/old/dna/)
and Clone Manager, version 5.
Nucleotide sequence accession numbers.
The GenBank accession numbers for the
complete nucleotide sequences of pRL1, pRL2, and pFRL1 are
DQ322649, DQ322650, and
DQ322651,
respectively.
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100 randomly selected strains were embedded in
plugs of low-melting-point agarose gel and subjected to pulsed-field
gel electrophoresis (17).
Both fast-migrating and very large bands were detected (Fig.
1A), suggesting the presence of linear plasmids and linear chromosomes. As
summarized in Table
1, various sizes (20 to 500 kb) of linear plasmids were detected; among
the 17 strains, most harbored one plasmid, while 3 strains harbored
three or four plasmids.
![]() View larger version (33K): [in a new window] |
FIG. 1. Identification
of linear plasmids among Streptomyces strains. (A)
Linear plasmids were detected by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
(17). The plug-embedded
mycelium was electrophoresed in a 1.0% agarose gel at 120 V with a 50-
to 90-s switch time at 14°C for 20 h. The DNA marker
is in lane M, and linear plasmids pRL2, pRL1, and pFRL1 are indicated
by arrows. DNA bands of possible linear chromosomes are indicated (L
Chr). (B and C) Confirmation of linearity of pRL1 and pRL2.
Nondenatured plasmid DNA was isolated from strains 44030 and
44414(22). Aliquots of the DNA
(in Tris-EDTA buffer) were treated with 100 U of E. coli
exonuclease III or 10 U of exonuclease at
37°C for 1 h and electrophoresed in a 0.5% agarose
gel at 25 V for 12 h. HindIII DNA was used as a
size marker. The position of residual chromosomal DNA (Chr) detected in
the lanes after treatment with either exonuclease or
exonuclease III is indicated. Lp, linear
plasmid.
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View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Summary
of linear plasmids detection among 100 Streptomyces
strains and PCR results for the conserved regions of the
tpg and tap genes
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exonuclease
(22) and then
electrophoresed in an agarose gel. As shown in Fig.
1B, the 32-kb DNA band was
sensitive to E. coli exonuclease III but resistant to
exonuclease, suggesting that pRL1 DNA was linear,
with a free 3' end but a blocked 5' end. The same
result was obtained with the 20-kb pRL2 plasmid of strain 44414 (Fig.
1C).
PCR testing for conserved telomere tap and tpg sequences in Streptomyces strains.
To investigate if the conserved
telomere tpg and tap genes exist among the 17
Streptomyces strains harboring linear plasmids,
oligonucleotides designed from the highly conserved amino acid
sequences of the Tap and Tp proteins were used for PCR (see Materials
and Methods). As shown in Fig.
2, PCR-amplified DNA bands of expected sizes were detected for strains FR1
(harboring linear plasmids pFRL1, pFRL2, and pFRL3) and S.
lividans ZX7 (as a positive control containing chromosomal
tap and tpg sequences) but not for strains 44414
(containing pRL2, pRL3, and pRL4) and 44030 (containing pRL1). As
summarized in Table 1,
such PCR-amplified products were detected in 9 of 17 strains,
indicating that they might contain conserved tpg/tap
genes, but not in the other 8 strains, suggesting that they might
contain novel tpg/tap
genes.
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FIG. 2. Detection
of highly conserved tpg and tap sequences among
Streptomyces strains by PCR. The genomic DNAs of
Streptomyces strains ZX7 (positive control), 44030, 44414, and
FR1 were prepared, and PCR amplifications were performed using pairs of
oligonucleotides from the tpg/tap sequences (see
Materials and Methods). The PCR products were electrophoresed in a 1%
agarose gel at 100 V for 2 h. A 100-bp DNA ladder was used as
a size
marker.
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. A plasmid, pZR82, containing a 7-kb insert was obtained.
The nucleotide sequence extending from the SmaI site of pZR82 (Fig.
3A), presumed to be the telomere of pRL1, contained multiple short
palindromes different from those of conserved Streptomyces
telomeres
(13).
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FIG. 3. Telomere
sequences (150 nt) of linear plasmids pRL1 (A), pRL2 (B), and pFRL1
(C). The short palindromes (numbered) are shown by pairs of
arrows.
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A 1.2-kb EcoRI fragment of pFRL1 similarly yielded pZR6. The corresponding sequence closely resembled conserved Streptomyces telomeres [e.g., those of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), with an identity of 42/43 bp], especially in the first 43 bp (Fig. 3C).
The complete nucleotide sequence of linear plasmid pRL2 shows that two genes encode proteins, with one resembling Tap of Streptomyces and the helicase of Thiobacillus and one resembling Tpg of Streptomyces and a portion of the telomere terminal protein pTP of adenoviruses.
pRL2 was the smallest linear
plasmid containing a novel telomere sequence found among
Streptomyces strains. PCR sequencing following the
"shotgun cloning" of linear plasmid DNA (see Materials
and Methods) would miss the end sequences. After combining the internal
and telomeric sequences, the complete nucleotide sequence of pRL2
(GenBank accession number DQ322650) consisted of
20,252 bp, with a 70.4% G+C content and a telomere of 427 bp.
The 26 open reading frames (ORFs) on pRL2 were predicted by FramePlot
3.0 beta. Interestingly, one ORF, pRL2.4c, encoded a protein of 1,100
amino acids containing two domains which resembled the
telomere-associated protein TapR of the Streptomyces rochei
linear plasmid pSLA2-L (from aa 560 to 1080; expectation value, 2
x 108; identity, 134/640 bp [20%]) and the
superfamily II helicase of Thiobacillus denitrificans (from aa
175 to 520; expectation value, 2 x 104;
identity, 77/325 bp [23%]). As for the cotranscribed Streptomyces
tpg and tap genes
(2), the spacer between
pRL2.4c and the adjacent pRL2.3c ORF was only 3 bp (Fig.
4A). The pRL2.3c-encoded protein of 216 amino acids resembled the telomere
terminal protein TpgR of the Streptomyces rochei linear
plasmid pSLA2-L (expectation value, 1 x
104; identity, 56/184 bp [30%]) and part of the
telomere terminal protein pTP of simian adenovirus (Fig.
4B) (expectation value,
3.7; identity, 17/55 bp [30%]). These results indicated that the two
genes, pRL2.3c and pRL2.4c, of pRL2 might be cotranscribed and involved
in telomere replication.
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FIG. 4. Characteristics
of the two genes of pRL2. (A) Comparison between proteins
pRL2.4c and pRL2.3c and the TapR/TpgR proteins encoded by
Streptomyces linear plasmid pSLA2-L
(2). The two functional
protein domains (TapR and helicase) of pRL2.4c are indicated.
(B) Alignment of the pRL2.3c protein sequence and the
telomere terminal protein (pTP) sequence of simian
adenovirus.
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FIG. 5. Iterons
of pRL1 and pRL2 and their comparison with typical iterons-rep
loci of Streptomyces linear plasmids pSLA2 and SCP1. (A and B)
Iterons (indicated by arrows) at the positions (numbered sequences) of
pRL2 and pRL1 predicted by DNA Folder (see Materials and Methods).
(C) Comparison of typical iterons-rep loci of pSLA2
(6) and SCP1
(24) with the
iterons-ORFs of pRL2 and pRL1. The telomere, iterons, and adjacent
genes of pRL2 were cloned into pBluescript II SK to obtain pZR30,
treated with BamHI and BglII to release the pRL2 fragment, and cloned
into the BamHI site of pQC156 to yield plasmid pZR81. The HindIII
fragment (7.0 kb) and EcoRI fragment (9.1 kb) of pRL1 were cloned into
pQC156 to yield pZR99 and pZR23, respectively. Iterons are indicated by
striped boxes, the telomere is indicated by a dotted arrow, and genes
are indicated by thick arrows. The genes encoding known proteins (in
parentheses) are
shown.
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The pFRL1 sequence (DQ322651) consisted of 54,288 bp, with a 72.1% G+C content and a telomere of 421 bp. Fifty-nine ORFs were predicted on pFRL1, including two conserved tpg genes and one tap gene. However, as for pRL1 and pRL2, there was no typical iteron-rep locus on pFRL1.
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Although the two novel telomere sequences identified here differ from the conserved telomere sequences, they also contain multiple short palindromes. Like the case for linear plasmids pSLA2 and SLP2 (4, 13, 22), the 3'-telomeric palindrome 1 of pRL2 may "fold back" internally (folding energy, 29.1 kcal/mol) to one arm of palindrome 4 (Fig. 6A), suggesting that the "fold-back" is an important step for telomere replication. Interestingly, like the conserved Tap/Tpg proteins, pRL2 encodes two proteins, one of which resembles Tap of Streptomyces and the helicase of Thiobacillus and the other of which resembles Tpg of Streptomyces and the telomere terminal protein pTP of adenoviruses. Recent experiments indicated that the two pRL2 genes are involved in linear plasmid replication (our unpublished data). These results suggest that Streptomyces linear replicons share similar mechanisms of telomere replication, even though the telomere sequences differ, and that the process of "filling in" the 3' overhang by the proposed telomere terminal protein-priming replication in Streptomyces might be similar to telomere replication in adenoviruses. Replication of linear replicons of adenoviruses starts at the telomeres and undergoes a strand displacement mechanism (25). Although Streptomyces linear plasmids usually contain centrally located origins for starting replication (5, 10, 24, 27), the possibility that replication starts at the telomeres in some linear replicons may not be ruled out. We found that besides the double-stranded DNA band, one high-mobility band could also be detected during the replication of a pRL2-derived plasmid, pZR108, in S. lividans ZX7 (our unpublished data), supporting this suggestion.
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FIG. 6. Characteristics
of telomere sequences of linear plasmids pFRL1 and pRL2. (A)
Secondary structure of the 80 nt of 3' pRL2 telomere terminal
sequence predicted by DNA Folder. Folding back and base pairing of
short palindrome 1 to one arm of palindrome 4 are shown. (B)
Multiple sequence alignment of telomere sequences from
Streptomyces linear plasmids. The positions of telomere
palindromes 1 to 4 are
shown.
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Even though the telomere of linear plasmid SCP1 differs from those of pSLA2 and pSLA2-L (10, 18), these plasmids all contain typical iterons-rep loci for DNA replication in circular mode when the telomeres are deleted (6, 10, 24). We found that linear plasmid pFRL1, containing the conserved telomere sequence, lacks typical iterons-rep loci, indicating no correlation between the telomere sequences and the iterons-rep loci. Additionally, except for the plasmid transfer gene tra and the partition gene parA, no common genes are found among the three linear plasmids sequenced here, suggesting that the centrally located loci for DNA replication in circular mode are diverse in Streptomyces linear plasmids pRL1, pRL2, and pFRL1.
These investigations were supported by grants from the Chinese National and Shanghai Nature Science Foundation (30170019, 30270030, 30325003, and 0202ZA14096) and the national "863" projects (2005AA227020) to Z.Q.
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