Structure, Function, and Evolution of Linear Replicons in Borrelia

Spirochetes of the genus Borrelia include important human pathogens that cause Lyme borreliosis and relapsing fever. The genomes of Borrelia species can be composed of up to 24 DNA molecules, most of which are linear. The plasmid content and linear replicon sequence arrangement vary widely between i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of microbiology 2010-01, Vol.64 (1), p.185-202
Main Authors: CHACONAS, George, KOBRYN, Kerri
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Bacteriology
Biological and medical sciences
Borrelia
Borrelia - genetics
Borrelia burgdorferi
Chromosomes
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA Replication
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
Enzymes
Evolution
Evolution, Molecular
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genome, Bacterial
Genomics
Microbiology
Miscellaneous
Molecular structure
Pathogens
Plasmids
Recombinases - metabolism
Recombination, Genetic
Replicon
Spirochetes
Telomere - metabolism
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Summary:Spirochetes of the genus Borrelia include important human pathogens that cause Lyme borreliosis and relapsing fever. The genomes of Borrelia species can be composed of up to 24 DNA molecules, most of which are linear. The plasmid content and linear replicon sequence arrangement vary widely between isolates. The linear replicons are terminated by covalently closed DNA hairpins or hairpin telomeres. Replication of these elements involves a unique reaction, called telomere resolution, to produce hairpin telomeres from replicative intermediates. The telomere resolvase, ResT, is thought to contribute to the genetic flux of the linear molecules by promoting stabilized telomere fusions. Telomere resolvases are related to the tyrosine recombinases and ResT can generate the crucial reaction intermediate of this class of enzyme, the Holliday junction. This observation has led to the proposal that telomere resolvases evolved from tyrosine recombinases inducing DNA linearization in the genomes that acquired them.
ISSN:0066-4227
1545-3251
DOI:10.1146/annurev.micro.112408.134037