Diverse regulatory circuits for transfer of conjugative elements
2014
Singh, Praveen K. | Meijer, Wilfried J.J.
Conjugation systems are present on many plasmids as well as on chromosomally integrated elements. Conjugation, which is a major route by which bacteria exchange genetic material, is a complex and energy‐consuming process. Hence, a shared feature of conjugation systems is that expression of the genes involved is strictly controlled in such a way that conjugation is kept in a default ‘OFF’ state and that the process is switched on only under conditions that favor the transfer of the conjugative element into a recipient cell. However, there is a remarkable diversity in the way by which conjugation genes present on different transferable elements are regulated. Here, we review these diverse regulatory circuits on the basis of several prototypes with a special focus on the recently discovered regulation of the conjugation genes present on the native Bacillus subtilis plasmid pLS20.
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