Bacterial conjugation is an efficient and sophisticated mechanism of DNA transfer among
bacteria. While mobilizable plasmids only encode a minimal MOB machinery that allows …

Bacterial conjugation in Gram-negative bacteria is triggered by a signal that connects the
relaxosome to the coupling protein (T4CP) and transferosome, a type IV secretion system …

Type IV secretion occurs across a wide range of prokaryotic cell envelopes: Gram-negative,
Gram-positive, cell wall-less bacteria and some archaea. This diversity is reflected in the …

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of hospital, community and livestock-associated
infections and is increasingly resistant to multiple antimicrobials. A significant proportion of …

The conjugative transfer of F-like plasmids such as F, R1, R100 and pED208, between
bacterial cells requires TraM, a plasmid-encoded DNA-binding protein. TraM tetramers …

Early in F plasmid conjugative transfer, the F relaxase, TraI, cleaves one plasmid strand at a
site within the origin of transfer called nic. The reaction covalently links TraI Tyr16 to the 5 …

Bacterial conjugation is a form of type IV secretion used to transport protein and DNA directly
to recipient bacteria. The process is cell contact-dependent, yet the mechanisms enabling …

TrwC, the relaxase of plasmid R388, catalyzes a series of concerted DNA cleavage and
strand transfer reactions on a specific site (nic) of its origin of transfer (oriT). nic contains the …

Relaxases act as DNA selection sieves in conjugative plasmid transfer. Most plasmid
relaxases belong to the HUH endonuclease family. TrwC, the relaxase of plasmid R388, is …

Transfer of conjugative plasmids requires relaxases, proteins that cleave one plasmid strand
sequence specifically. The F plasmid relaxase TraI (1,756 amino acids) is also a highly …