ArticleNucleic acids research2025
Improved DNA binding to a type IV minor pilin increases natural transformation.
Article in Nucleic acids research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- β-strand addition within tip initiation complexes licenses assembly of diverse type IV filaments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- A broad-spectrum phage-encoded mechanism to disarm bacterial type IV filaments.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Structural modeling reveals the mechanism of motor ATPase coordination during type IV pilus retraction.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- A WYL transcriptional regulator activates the DNA damage response pathway in Acinetobacter species.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- A broad-spectrum phage-encoded mechanism to disarm bacterial type IV filaments.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- β-strand complementation within tip initiation complexes licenses assembly of diverse type IV filaments.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A prophage-expressed type IV pilus component provides anti-phage defense.Cell reports · 2026Article
- Article
- FimX regulates type IV pilus localization via the Pil-Chp chemosensory system inMolecular biology of the cell · 2025Article
- Naturally competent bacteria and their genetic parasites-a battle for control over horizontal gene transfer?FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Bacteria take up environmental DNA using dynamic appendages called type IV pili (T4P) to elicit horizontal gene transfer in a process called natural transformation. Natural transformation is widespread amongst bacteria yet the parameters that enhance or limit this process across species are poorly understood. We show that the most naturally transformable species known, Acinetobacter baylyi, owes this property to uniquely high levels of DNA binding by its orphan minor pilin, FimT. Expression of A. baylyi FimT in a closely related Acinetobacter pathogen substantially improves its capacity for natural transformation, showing that the acquisition of a single gene is sufficient to increase rates of horizontal gene transfer. We show that, compared with its homologs, A. baylyi FimT contains multiple regions of positively charged residues that additively promote DNA binding efficiency. These results demonstrate the importance of T4P-DNA binding in establishing natural transformation rates and provide a basis for improving or limiting this mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in different species.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.