| Literature DB >> 31342224 |
Lauren A Riley1,2, Lexiang Ji3, Robert J Schmitz4, Janet Westpheling4, Adam M Guss5,6.
Abstract
A major barrier to both metabolic engineering and fundamental biological studies is the lack of genetic tools in most microorganisms. One example is Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405T, where genetic tools are not available to help validate decades of hypotheses. A significant barrier to DNA transformation is restriction-modification systems, which defend against foreign DNA methylated differently than the host. To determine the active restriction-modification systems in this strain, we performed complete methylome analysis via single-molecule, real-time sequencing to detect 6-methyladenine and 4-methylcytosine and the rarely used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing to detect 5-methylcytosine. Multiple active systems were identified, and corresponding DNA methyltransferases were expressed from the Escherichia coli chromosome to mimic the C. thermocellum methylome. Plasmid methylation was experimentally validated and successfully electroporated into C. thermocellum ATCC 27405. This combined approach enabled genetic modification of the C. thermocellum-type strain and acts as a blueprint for transformation of other non-model microorganisms.Entities:
Keywords: Clostridium thermocellum; Methylome; Real-time sequencing; Restriction–modification systems; Single molecule; Whole-genome bisulfite sequencing
Year: 2019 PMID: 31342224 PMCID: PMC6791906 DOI: 10.1007/s10295-019-02218-x
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol ISSN: 1367-5435 Impact factor: 3.346
Methylated motifs in C. thermocellum ATCC27405
| Motif | Type | % Modified | # Motifs in the genome | Predicted methyltransferase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | m6A | 74 | 8234 | |
| CNC | m6A | 57.1 | 1775 | |
| GTC | m6A | 49.6 | 6945 |
|
| G | m5C | 100 | 6283 |
|
| G | m5C | 100 | 12,192 |
|
Methylated bases are in bold. In cases where T or G are bold, the methylation is on the A or C of the complementary strand, respectively. % m6A motifs were detected by PacBio SMRT sequencing, and m5C motifs were detected by WGBS. Modified is the percentage of these motifs in the genome that were detected as methylated. # of motifs in the genome is the number of times each motif appears in the genome. The “Predicted Methyltransferase” is the most likely C. thermocellum gene responsible for each methylation (N any base, W A or T)
Fig. 1Confirmation of methyltransferase functionality in E. coli. a pNJ020 plasmid map with NlaIII restriction sites, including NlaIII* that overlaps with the GTCAT methylation site. When blocked by methylation, NlaIII* is not cut by NlaIII, resulting in a 455 bp band rather than 393 and 62 bp bands. b Agarose gel of restriction digests of plasmid pNJ020 isolated from E. coli Top10 (lanes 1, 3, and 5) and from methylating strain AG2006 (lanes 2, 4, and 6). Methylation at GTCAT is indicated by a band shift from 393 to 455 bp (lane 1 vs 2) or complete blockage of digestion by GGCC (lane 3 vs 4) and GCWGC (lane 5 vs 6)
Transformation efficiency of C. thermocellum ATCC 27405 using methylated plasmid DNA
| Plasmid | Experiment | Average (CFU/µg) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| pNJ020 | 27 | 62 | 151 | 80 |
| pAMG216 | 14 | 20 | 85 | 40 |
No transformation was seen using control DNA without C. thermocellum methylation. Units are in colony-forming units (CFU) per microgram of plasmid DNA