Kumar Ritesh, Rao Desirazu N
Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 560012, India,
Subcell Biochem. 2013;61:81-102. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-4525-4_4.
In prokaryotes, alteration in gene expression was observed with the modification of DNA, especially DNA methylation. Such changes are inherited from generation to generation with no alterations in the DNA sequence and represent the epigenetic signal in prokaryotes. DNA methyltransferases are enzymes involved in DNA modification and thus in epigenetic regulation of gene expression. DNA methylation not only affects the thermodynamic stability of DNA, but also changes its curvature. Methylation of specific residues on DNA can affect the protein-DNA interactions. DNA methylation in prokaryotes regulates a number of physiological processes in the bacterial cell including transcription, DNA mismatch repair and replication initiation. Significantly, many reports have suggested a role of DNA methylation in regulating the expression of a number of genes in virulence and pathogenesis thus, making DNA methlytransferases novel targets for the designing of therapeutics. Here, we summarize the current knowledge about the influence of DNA methylation on gene regulation in different bacteria, and on bacterial virulence.
在原核生物中，随着DNA的修饰，尤其是DNA甲基化，观察到了基因表达的改变。这种变化代代相传，DNA序列没有改变，代表了原核生物中的表观遗传信号。DNA甲基转移酶是参与DNA修饰从而参与基因表达表观遗传调控的酶。DNA甲基化不仅影响DNA的热力学稳定性，还会改变其曲率。DNA上特定残基的甲基化会影响蛋白质与DNA的相互作用。原核生物中的DNA甲基化调节细菌细胞中的许多生理过程，包括转录、DNA错配修复和复制起始。值得注意的是，许多报告表明DNA甲基化在调节许多毒力和发病机制相关基因的表达中发挥作用，因此，使DNA甲基转移酶成为治疗药物设计的新靶点。在这里，我们总结了目前关于DNA甲基化对不同细菌基因调控以及对细菌毒力影响的知识。
