Genome sequencing reveals a large and diverse repertoire of antimicrobial peptides
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Published version
Author(s)
Rezaei Javan, R
Van Tonder, A
King, J
Harrold, C
Brueggemann, AB
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Competition among bacterial members of the same ecological niche is mediated by bacteriocins: antimicrobial peptides produced by bacterial species to kill other bacteria. Bacteriocins are also promising candidates for novel antimicrobials. Streptococcus pneumoniae (the “pneumococcus”) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and a frequent colonizer of the human nasopharynx. Here, 14 newly discovered bacteriocin gene clusters were identified among >6,200 pneumococcal genomes. The molecular epidemiology of the bacteriocin clusters was investigated using a large global and historical pneumococcal dataset dating from 1916. These analyses revealed extraordinary bacteriocin diversity among pneumococci and the majority of bacteriocin clusters were also found in other streptococcal species. Genomic hotspots for the integration of different bacteriocin gene clusters were discovered. Experimentally, bacteriocin genes were transcriptionally active when the pneumococcus was under stress and when two strains were co-cultured in broth. These findings reveal much more diversity among bacterial defense mechanisms than previously appreciated, which fundamentally broaden our understanding of bacteriocins relative to intraspecies and interspecies nasopharyngeal competition and bacterial population structure.
Date Issued
2018-08-27
Online Publication Date
2018-08-27
2018-10-16T12:59:59Z
Date Acceptance
2018-08-09
ISSN
1664-302X
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Journal / Book Title
Frontiers in Microbiology
Volume
9
Copyright Statement
© 2018 Rezaei Javan, van Tonder, King, Harrold and Brueggemann.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums
is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited
and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted
academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not
comply with these terms.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums
is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited
and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted
academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not
comply with these terms.
Source Database
manual-entry
Sponsor
Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust
John Fell Fund, University of Oxford
Grant Number
04992/Z/14/Z
083511/Z/07/Z
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Microbiology
bacteriocins
pneumococcus
genomics
antimicrobials
population biology
POSTTRANSLATIONALLY MODIFIED PEPTIDES
INVASIVE PNEUMOCOCCAL INFECTIONS
STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE
COLONIZATION
EVOLUTION
DISEASE
GENES
IDENTIFICATION
RECOMBINATION
ANTIBIOTICS
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 2012