Regulation of Gram-Positive Conjugation

Type IV Secretion Systems (T4SSs) are membrane-spanning multiprotein complexes dedicated to protein secretion or conjugative DNA transport (conjugation systems) in bacteria. The prototype and best-characterized T4SS is that of the Gram-negative soil bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. For Gram-positive bacteria, only conjugative T4SSs have been characterized in some biochemical, structural, and mechanistic details. These conjugation systems are predominantly encoded by self-transmissible plasmids but are also increasingly detected on integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) and transposons. Here, we report regulatory details of conjugation systems from Enterococcus model plasmids pIP501 and pCF10, Bacillus plasmid pLS1, Clostridium plasmid pCW3, and staphylococcal plasmid pSK41. In addition, regulation of conjugative processes of ICEs (ICEBs1, ICESt1, ICESt3) by master regulators belonging to diverse repressor families will be discussed. A special focus of this review lies on the comparison of regulatory mechanisms executed by proteins belonging to the RRNPP family. These regulators share a common fold and govern several essential bacterial processes, including conjugative transfer.

• Publication year

  2019

• Venue

  Frontiers in Microbiology

• Publication date

  2019-05-22

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Chemistry, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01134PMID 31191478PMCID 6540685
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Competent but complex communication: The phenomena of pheromone-responsive plasmids

  2020cited by this paper
• Enterococcus faecalis

  2020cited by this paper
• Biofilm Formation Drives Transfer of the Conjugative Element ICEBs1 in Bacillus subtilis

  2018cited by this paper
• Cryo-EM structure of the bacteria killing type IV secretion system core complex from Xanthomonas citri

  2018cited by this paper
• Translocation through the Conjugative Type IV Secretion System Requires Unfolding of Its Protein Substrate

  2018cited by this paper
• Type IV secretion in Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacteria

  2018cited by this paper
• Spreading the news about the novel conjugation mechanism in Streptomyces bacteria.

  2018cited by this paper
• Broad-host-range Inc18 plasmids: Occurrence, spread and transfer mechanisms.

  2018cited by this paper
• Transporters MRP1 and MRP2 Regulate Opposing Inflammatory Signals To Control Transepithelial Neutrophil Migration during Streptococcus pneumoniae Lung Infection

  2018cited by this paper
• Crystal structure of TcpK in complex with oriT DNA of the antibiotic resistance plasmid pCW3

  2018cited by this paper
• TraN: A novel repressor of an Enterococcus conjugative type IV secretion system

  2018cited by this paper
• Antibiotics, Resistome and Resistance Mechanisms: A Bacterial Perspective

  2018cited by this paper
• Genetic and Structural Analyses of RRNPP Intercellular Peptide Signaling of Gram-Positive Bacteria.

  2017cited by this paper
• Regulation of conjugative transfer of plasmids and integrative conjugative elements.

  2017cited by this paper
• Mechanisms of stabilization of integrative and conjugative elements.

  2017cited by this paper
• PrgU: a suppressor of sex pheromone toxicity in Enterococcus faecalis

  2017cited by this paper
• Crosstalk between vertical and horizontal gene transfer: plasmid replication control by a conjugative relaxase

  2017cited by this paper
• Structural basis of a histidine-DNA nicking/joining mechanism for gene transfer and promiscuous spread of antibiotic resistance

  2017cited by this paper
• The Tcp conjugation system of Clostridium perfringens.

  2017cited by this paper
• Prokaryotic Information Games: How and When to Take up and Secrete DNA.

  2017cited by this paper
• The Obscure World of Integrative and Mobilizable Elements, Highly Widespread Elements that Pirate Bacterial Conjugative Systems

  2017cited by this paper
• Mechanisms of peptide sex pheromone regulation of conjugation in Enterococcus faecalis

  2017cited by this paper
• Enterococcal Sex Pheromones: Evolutionary Pathways to Complex, Two-Signal Systems

  2016cited by this paper
• Structural Mechanisms of Peptide Recognition and Allosteric Modulation of Gene Regulation by the RRNPP Family of Quorum-Sensing Regulators.

  2016cited by this paper
• Quorum sensing signal–response systems in Gram-negative bacteria

  2016cited by this paper
• Horizontal Gene Transfer and the History of Life.

  2016cited by this paper
• Bacterial Cell–Cell Communication in the Host via RRNPP Peptide-Binding Regulators

  2016cited by this paper
• Conjugative DNA-transfer in Streptomyces, a mycelial organism.

  2016cited by this paper
• Induction of Plasmid Conjugation in Bacillus subtilis Is Bistable and Driven by a Direct Interaction of a Rap/Phr Quorum-sensing System with a Master Repressor*

  2015cited by this paper
• Mobilizable Rolling-Circle Replicating Plasmids from Gram-Positive Bacteria: A Low-Cost Conjugative Transfer

  2014cited by this paper
• Peptide conversations in Gram-positive bacteria

  2014cited by this paper
• Diverse regulatory circuits for transfer of conjugative elements.

  2014cited by this paper
• Social behavior and decision making in bacterial conjugation

  2014cited by this paper
• Mobilizable Rolling-Circle Replicating Plasmids from Gram-Positive Bacteria: A Low-Cost Conjugative Transfer.

  2014cited by this paper
• A Complex Genetic Switch Involving Overlapping Divergent Promoters and DNA Looping Regulates Expression of Conjugation Genes of a Gram-positive Plasmid

  2014cited by this paper
• Mobility of the Native Bacillus subtilis Conjugative Plasmid pLS20 Is Regulated by Intercellular Signaling

  2013cited by this paper
• Molecular basis of antibiotic multiresistance transfer in Staphylococcus aureus

  2013cited by this paper
• Toxin Plasmids of Clostridium perfringens

  2013cited by this paper
• Biology of the staphylococcal conjugative multiresistance plasmid pSK41.

  2013cited by this paper
• Antagonistic self-sensing and mate-sensing signaling controls antibiotic-resistance transfer

  2013cited by this paper
• The antibiotic resistance “mobilome”: searching for the link between environment and clinic

  2013cited by this paper
• A Plasmid-Encoded Phosphatase Regulates Bacillus subtilis Biofilm Architecture, Sporulation, and Genetic Competence

  2013cited by this paper
• Structural and functional discussion of the tetra-trico-peptide repeat, a protein interaction module.

  2012cited by this paper
• The Bacillus subtilis Conjugative Transposon ICEBs1 Mobilizes Plasmids Lacking Dedicated Mobilization Functions

  2012cited by this paper
• Large-scale analysis of plasmid relationships through gene-sharing networks.

  2012cited by this paper
• Inhibition of Bacillus subtilis natural competence by a native, conjugative plasmid-encoded comK repressor protein.

  2012cited by this paper
• Bacillus subtilis

  2012cited by this paper
• In Vivo and In Vitro Analyses of Regulation of the Pheromone-Responsive prgQ Promoter by the PrgX Pheromone Receptor Protein

  2012cited by this paper
• Autoregulation of the Synthesis of the MobM Relaxase Encoded by the Promiscuous Plasmid pMV158

  2012cited by this paper
• Uncovering the Prevalence and Diversity of Integrating Conjugative Elements in Actinobacteria

  2011cited by this paper
• Differential regulation of two closely related integrative and conjugative elements from Streptococcus thermophilus

  2011cited by this paper
• The MobM relaxase domain of plasmid pMV158: thermal stability and activity upon Mn2+ and specific DNA binding

  2011cited by this paper
• The Repertoire of ICE in Prokaryotes Underscores the Unity, Diversity, and Ubiquity of Conjugation

  2011cited by this paper
• The RNPP family of quorum-sensing proteins in Gram-positive bacteria

  2010cited by this paper
• Integrative and conjugative elements: mosaic mobile genetic elements enabling dynamic lateral gene flow

  2010cited by this paper
• Direct Evidence for Control of the Pheromone-Inducible prgQ Operon of Enterococcus faecalis Plasmid pCF10 by a Countertranscript-Driven Attenuation Mechanism

  2010cited by this paper
• Structural analysis of the Anti-Q-Qs interaction: RNA-mediated regulation of E. faecalis plasmid pCF10 conjugation.

  2010cited by this paper
• Regulation of bacterial conjugation: balancing opportunity with adversity.

  2010cited by this paper
• Regulation of Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bacillus subtilis by Activation of a Conserved Site-Specific Protease

  2010cited by this paper
• The diversity of conjugative relaxases and its application in plasmid classification.

  2009cited by this paper
• Conjugative Transfer of the Integrative Conjugative Elements ICESt1 and ICESt3 from Streptococcus thermophilus

  2009cited by this paper
• The Staphylococcus aureus pSK41 plasmid-encoded ArtA protein is a master regulator of plasmid transmission genes and contains a RHH motif used in alternate DNA-binding modes

  2009cited by this paper
• A Novel Pheromone Quorum-Sensing System Controls the Development of Natural Competence in Streptococcus thermophilus and Streptococcus salivarius

  2009cited by this paper
• A modular master on the move: the Tn916 family of mobile genetic elements.

  2009cited by this paper
• The role of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of selected foodborne bacterial pathogens.

  2009cited by this paper
• A conserved anti‐repressor controls horizontal gene transfer by proteolysis

  2008cited by this paper
• The PUA domain − a structural and functional overview

  2007cited by this paper
• Molecular basis for control of conjugation by bacterial pheromone and inhibitor peptides

  2006cited by this paper
• The Integrase of the Conjugative Transposon Tn916 Directs Strand- and Sequence-Specific Cleavage of the Origin of Conjugal Transfer, oriT, by the Endonuclease Orf20

  2006cited by this paper
• Rap Phosphatase of Virulence Plasmid pXO1 Inhibits Bacillus anthracis Sporulation

  2006cited by this paper
• The TraA relaxase autoregulates the putative type IV secretion-like system encoded by the broad-host-range Streptococcus agalactiae plasmid pIP501.

  2006cited by this paper
• Conjugational Transfer Kinetics of pLS20 between Bacillus subtilis in Liquid Medium

  2006cited by this paper
• Structure of peptide sex pheromone receptor PrgX and PrgX/pheromone complexes and regulation of conjugation in Enterococcus faecalis.

  2005cited by this paper
• Specific Control of Endogenous cCF10 Pheromone by a Conserved Domain of the pCF10-Encoded Regulatory Protein PrgY in Enterococcus faecalis

  2005cited by this paper
• Characterization of the Pheromone Response of the Enterococcus faecalis Conjugative Plasmid pCF10: Complete Sequence and Comparative Analysis of the Transcriptional and Phenotypic Responses of pCF10-Containing Cells to Pheromone Induction

  2005cited by this paper
• Regulation of a Bacillus subtilis mobile genetic element by intercellular signaling and the global DNA damage response.

  2005cited by this paper
• Shaping bacterial genomes with integrative and conjugative elements.

  2004cited by this paper
• Features of the plasmid pMV158-encoded MobM, a protein involved in its mobilization.

  2004cited by this paper
• Enterococcus faecalis pheromone‐responsive protein PrgX: genetic separation of positive autoregulatory functions from those involved in negative regulation of conjugative plasmid transfer

  2004cited by this paper
• Characterization of cis‐acting prgQ mutants: evidence for two distinct repression mechanisms by Qa RNA and PrgX protein in pheromone‐inducible enterococcal plasmid pCF10

  2003cited by this paper
• The extracellular Phr peptide-Rap phosphatase signaling circuit of Bacillus subtilis.

  2003cited by this paper
• The MerR family of transcriptional regulators.

  2003cited by this paper
• A plasmid-borne Rap-Phr system of Bacillus subtilis can mediate cell-density controlled production of extracellular proteases.

  2003cited by this paper
• The ICESt1 element of Streptococcus thermophilus belongs to a large family of integrative and conjugative elements that exchange modules and change their specificity of integration.

  2002cited by this paper
• ccfA, the Genetic Determinant for the cCF10 Peptide Pheromone in Enterococcus faecalis OG1RF

  2002cited by this paper
• Control of a Family of Phosphatase Regulatory Genes (phr) by the Alternate Sigma Factor Sigma-H ofBacillus subtilis

  2001cited by this paper
• Mobilisation of the streptococcal plasmid pMV158: interactions of MobM protein with its cognate oriT DNA region

  1999cited by this paper
• Circularization of Tn916 is required for expression of the transposon‐encoded transfer functions: characterization of long tetracycline‐inducible transcripts reading through the attachment site

  1998cited by this paper
• Use of an excision reporter plasmid to study the intracellular mobility of the conjugative transposon Tn916 in gram-positive bacteria.

  1997cited by this paper
• Pheromone cCF10 and plasmid pCF10‐encoded regulatory molecules act post‐transcriptionally to activate expression of downstream conjugation functions

  1997cited by this paper
• Enterococcus faecalis pheromone binding protein, PrgZ, recruits a chromosomal oligopeptide permease system to import sex pheromone cCF10 for induction of conjugation.

  1996cited by this paper
• Origins and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance

  1996cited by this paper
• Copyright � 1995, American Society for Microbiology A Functional Origin of Transfer (oriT) on the Conjugative

  1995cited by this paper
• The prgQ gene of the Enterococcus faecalis tetracycline resistance plasmid pCF10 encodes a peptide inhibitor, iCF10

  1994cited by this paper
• Analysis of a transfer region from the staphylococcal conjugative plasmid pSK41.

  1993cited by this paper
• Tetracycline enhances Tn916-mediated conjugal transfer.

  1992cited by this paper
• Cis-acting, orientation-dependent, positive control system activates pheromone-inducible conjugation functions at distances greater than 10 kilobases upstream from its target in Enterococcus faecalis.

  1992cited by this paper
• Conjugal mobilization of streptococcal plasmid pMV158 between strains of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis

  1990cited by this paper
• Region of the streptococcal plasmid pMV158 required for conjugative mobilization

  1989cited by this paper
• Structure of cCF10, a peptide sex pheromone which induces conjugative transfer of the Streptococcus faecalis tetracycline resistance plasmid, pCF10.

  1988cited by this paper

• A global soil plasmidome resource unveils functional and ecological roles of plasmids in soil microbiomes

  2025cites this paper
• Naturally competent bacteria and their genetic parasites—a battle for control over horizontal gene transfer?

  2025cites this paper
• The environmental concentration of diethylstilbestrol and its structural analogues promote the conjugation transfer of ARGs through the pheromone effect.

  2025cites this paper
• Exploring the Intricacies of Antimicrobial Resistance: Understanding Mechanisms, Overcoming Challenges, and Pioneering Innovative Solutions.

  2025cites this paper
• Taxonomic Identification, Complete Genome Sequencing, and In Silico Genome Mining of the Actinobacterium Lentzea sp. JNUCC 0626 Isolated from Jeju Gotjawal

  2025cites this paper
• EXPRESSION OF CONJUGATION GENES IS CONTROLLED BY PROCESSIVE ANTITERMINATION AND A NOVEL ZIPPER-TYPE TRANSCRIPTIONAL ATTENUATION MECHANISM

  2025cites this paper
• An Overview of the Recent Advances in Antimicrobial Resistance

  2024cites this paper
• Functional and practical insights into three lactococcal antiphage systems

  2024cites this paper
• Advances on transfer and maintenance of large DNA in bacteria, fungi, and mammalian cells.

  2024cites this paper
• Genomic Insights into Bacterial Antimicrobial Resistance Transmission and Mitigation Strategies.

  2024cites this paper
• Genomic Modifications of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Their Applications in Dairy Fermentation.

  2024cites this paper
• DNA Molecular Glue Assisted Bacterial Conjugative Transfer.

  2024cites this paper
• Conjugation Mediates Large-Scale Chromosomal Transfer in Streptomyces Driving Diversification of Antibiotic Biosynthetic Gene Clusters

  2024cites this paper
• Plasmid‐mediated horizontal gene mobilisation: Insights from two lactococcal conjugative plasmids

  2024cites this paper
• Plasmids: Tiny pieces with high efficacy (Review)

  2024cites this paper
• Colonization of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in human-derived colonic epithelium: unraveling the transcriptional dynamics of host–enterococcal interactions

  2024cites this paper
• Discovering genetic determinants for cell-to-cell adhesion in two prevalent conjugative lactococcal plasmids

  2024cites this paper
• PrgE: an OB-fold protein from plasmid pCF10 with striking differences to prototypical bacterial SSBs

  2024cites this paper
• Breaking barriers: pCF10 type 4 secretion system relies on a self-regulating muramidase to modulate the cell wall

  2024cites this paper
• Transcriptional control of two distinct lactococcal plasmid-encoded conjugation systems

  2024influential citation
• Effect of TraN key residues involved in DNA binding on pIP501 transfer rates in Enterococcus faecalis

  2024cites this paper
• Advances in protein structure prediction highlight unexpected commonalities between Gram-positive and Gram-negative conjugative T4SSs.

  2024cites this paper
• Flagellar rotation facilitates the transfer of a bacterial conjugative plasmid

  2024cites this paper
• Does the herbicide napropamide exhibit enantioselective effects across genus plasmid transfer from Escherichia coli to Bacillus subtilis?

  2024cites this paper
• Staphylococcus epidermidis ST2 strains associated with bloodstream infections contain a unique mobile genetic element encoding a plasmin inhibitor

  2024cites this paper
• Mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer and viral contribution to the fate of intracellular and extracellular antibiotic resistance genes in anaerobic digestion supplemented with conductive materials under ammonia stress.

  2024cites this paper
• Large-Scale Identification of Known and Novel RRNPP Quorum-Sensing Systems by RRNPP_Detector Captures Novel Features of Bacterial, Plasmidic, and Viral Coevolution

  2023influential citation
• Pheromone effect of estradiol regulates the conjugative transfer of pCF10 carrying antibiotic resistance genes.

  2023cites this paper
• Delineation of a lactococcal conjugation system reveals a restriction‐modification evasion system

  2023influential citation
• Development of a Conjugation-Based Genome Editing System in an Undomesticated Bacillus subtilis Strain for Poly-γ-glutamic Acid Production with Diverse Molecular Masses.

  2023cites this paper
• Microbial applications for sustainable space exploration beyond low Earth orbit

  2023cites this paper
• Inhibition of Plasmid Conjugation in Escherichia coli by Targeting rbsB Gene Using CRISPRi System

  2023cites this paper
• Non-antibiotic compounds associated with humans and the environment can promote horizontal transfer of antimicrobial resistance genes

  2023cites this paper
• Bioremediation of mercury contaminated soil and water: A review

  2023cites this paper
• Conjugation Operons in Gram-Positive Bacteria with and without Antitermination Systems

  2022cites this paper
• Structural and biochemical characterization of the relaxosome auxiliary proteins encoded on the Bacillus subtilis plasmid pLS20

  2022cites this paper
• Bacteriophages in the Dairy Industry: A Problem Solved?

  2022cites this paper
• Structural Differences in Complexes between the Master Regulator PrgX, Peptide Pheromones, and Operator Binding Sites Determine the Induction State for Conjugative Transfer of pCF10

  2022cites this paper
• Barriers to genetic manipulation of Enterococci: Current Approaches and Future Directions

  2022influential citation
• New Platform for Screening Genetic Libraries at Elevated Temperatures: Biological and Genomic Information and Genetic Tools of Geobacillus thermodenitrificans K1041

  2022influential citation
• Prevalence and mobility of integrative and conjugative elements within a Streptomyces natural population

  2022cites this paper
• Evolution of horizontal transmission in antimicrobial resistance plasmids.

  2022cites this paper
• Impact of Antibiotics as Waste, Physical, Chemical, and Enzymatical Degradation: Use of Laccases

  2022cites this paper
• Molecular identification of streptomycetes by exploiting RNA polymerase beta-subunit (rpoB) gene in Saudi arabia

  2022cites this paper
• Driving to Safety: CRISPR-Based Genetic Approaches to Reducing Antibiotic Resistance.

  2021cites this paper
• Genetic Dissection of a Prevalent Plasmid-Encoded Conjugation System in Lactococcus lactis

  2021cites this paper
• Multiple Layered Control of the Conjugation Process of the Bacillus subtilis Plasmid pLS20

  2021cites this paper
• Horizontal transfer of large plasmid with type IV secretion system and mosquitocidal genomic island with excision and integration capabilities in Lysinibacillus sphaericus.

  2021cites this paper
• The Facts and Family Secrets of Plasmids That Replicate via the Rolling-Circle Mechanism

  2021cites this paper
• Selfish, promiscuous and sometimes useful: how mobile genetic elements drive horizontal gene transfer in microbial populations

  2021cites this paper
• Evaluation of Horizontal Gene Transfer Between Genetically Engineered Cyanobacteria and Gram-Negative Bacteria

  2021cites this paper
• Conjugative transfer of naturally occurring plasmids in Mycolicibacterium sp

  2021cites this paper
• RRNPP_detector: a tool to detect RRNPP quorum sensing systems in chromosomes, plasmids and phages of gram-positive bacteria

  2021cites this paper
• Large-scale identification of viral quorum sensing systems reveals density-dependent sporulation-hijacking mechanisms in bacteriophages

  2021cites this paper
• Evolutionary Pathways and Trajectories in Antibiotic Resistance

  2021cites this paper
• Inactivation of the dimeric RappLS20 anti-repressor of the conjugation operon is mediated by peptide-induced tetramerization

  2020cites this paper
• Possible drugs for the treatment of bacterial infections in the future: anti-virulence drugs

  2020cites this paper
• Enterococcal Infections and Drug Resistance Mechanisms

  2020cites this paper
• Competent but complex communication: The phenomena of pheromone-responsive plasmids

  2020cites this paper
• Comprehensive genome data analysis establishes a triple whammy of carbapenemases, ICEs and multiple clinically relevant bacteria

  2020cites this paper
• Structure of the enterococcal T4SS protein PrgL reveals unique dimerization interface in the VirB8 protein family

  2020cites this paper
• Protein Dynamics in F-like Bacterial Conjugation

  2020cites this paper
• Horizontal transfer of Resistance Genes

  2020cites this paper
• Correlation between Exogenous Compounds and the Horizontal Transfer of Plasmid-Borne Antibiotic Resistance Genes

  2020influential citation
• Integrative and conjugative elements, the neglected drivers of carbapenemase-encoding genes

  2019cites this paper
• Comprehensive genome data analysis establishes a triple whammy of carbapenemases, ICEs and multiple clinically-relevant bacteria

  2019cites this paper
• Biofilm Formation Drives Transfer of the Conjugative Element ICEBs1 in Bacillus subtilis

  2018cites this paper