Genomewide Dam Methylation in Escherichia coli during Long-Term Stationary Phase
Abstract
While it has been shown that methylation remains relatively constant into early stationary phase of E. coli , this study goes further through death phase and long-term stationary phase, a unique time in the bacterial life cycle due to nutrient limitation and strong selection for mutants with increased fitness. The absence of methylation at GATC sites can influence the mutation frequency within a population due to aberrant mismatch repair. Therefore, it is important to investigate the methylation status of GATC sites in an environment where cells may not prioritize methylation of the chromosome. This study demonstrates that chromosome methylation remains a priority even under conditions of nutrient limitation, indicating that continuous methylation at GATC sites could be under positive selection.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Dec 27, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.1128/msystems.00130-16
Entities
People
- Ian M. Ehrenreich
- Lacey L. Westphal
- Matthew M. Champion
- Peter Sauvey
- Steven E. Finkel
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Southern California