Selection for Unequal Densities of Sigma70 Promoter-like Signalsin Different Regions of Large Bacterial Genomes [electronic resource].

Published: Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 2006.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Additional Creators: United States. Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health (U.S.), and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information

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Summary

The evolutionary processes operating in the DNA regions that participate in the regulation of gene expression are poorly understood. In Escherichia coli, we have established a sequence pattern that distinguishes regulatory from nonregulatory regions. The density of promoter-like sequences, that are recognizable by RNA polymerase and may function as potential promoters, is high within regulatory regions, in contrast to coding regions and regions located between convergently-transcribed genes. Moreover, functional promoter sites identified experimentally are often found in the subregions of highest density of promoter-like signals, even when individual sites with higher binding affinity for RNA polymerase exist elsewhere within the regulatory region. In order to investigate the generality of this pattern, we have used position weight matrices describing the -35 and -10 promoter boxes of E. coli to search for these motifs in 43 additional genomes belonging to most established bacterial phyla, after specific calibration of the matrices according to the base composition of the noncoding regions of each genome. We have found that all bacterial species analyzed contain similar promoter-like motifs, and that, in most cases, these motifs follow the same genomic distribution observed in E. coli. Differential densities between regulatory and nonregulatory regions are detectable in most bacterial genomes, with the exception of those that have experienced evolutionary extreme genome reduction. Thus, the phylogenetic distribution of this pattern mirrors that of genes and other genomic features that require weak selection to be effective in order to persist. On this basis, we suggest that the loss of differential densities in the reduced genomes of host-restricted pathogens and symbionts is the outcome of a process of genome degradation resulting from the decreased efficiency of purifying selection in highly structured small populations. This implies that the differential distribution of promoter-like signals between regulatory and nonregulatory regions detected in large bacterial genomes confers a significant, although small, fitness advantage. This study paves the way for further identification of the specific types of selective constraints that affect the organization of regulatory regions and the overall distribution of promoter-like signals through more detailed comparative analyses among closely-related bacterial genomes.

Report Numbers

E 1.99:lbnl--60515
lbnl--60515

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Note

Published through SciTech Connect.
03/01/2006.
"lbnl--60515"
": 400412000"
PLOS Genetics 2 11 FT
Huerta, Araceli M.; Francino, M. Pilar; Morett, Enrique; Collado-Vides, Julio.
Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley NationalLaboratory, Berkeley, CA (US)
CONACTY Grant37023-N and 0028

Funding Information

DE-AC02-05CH11231
Y00014

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