Staphylococcus epidermidis is a significant opportunistic pathogen of humans. The ST2 lineage is frequently multidrug-resistant and accounts for most of the clinical disease worldwide. However, there are no publically available, closed ST2 genomes and pathogenesis studies have not focused on these strains. We report the complete genome and methylome of BPH0662, a multidrug-resistant, hospital-a...

Type II restriction-modification systems cleave and methylate DNA at specific sequences. However, the Type IIB systems look more like Type I than conventional Type II schemes as they employ the same protein for both restriction and modification and for DNA recognition. Several Type IIB proteins, including the archetype BcgI, are assemblies of two polypeptides: one with endonuclease and methyltr...

Genomic DNAs of 14 strains from seven species of the spirochete Leptospira were resistant to cleavage by the restriction endonuclease RsaI (5'-GTAC). A modified base comigrating with m4C was detected by chromatography. Genomic DNAs from other spirochetes, Borrelia group VS461, and Serpulina strains were not resistant to RsaI digestion. Modification at 5'-GTAm4C may occur in most or all strains ...

Here we report the cloning and preliminary characterization of the Pst I restriction-modification system of Providencia stuartii 164. Transformants of Escherichia coli carrying the Pst I gene system inserted into the cloning vector pBR322 were selected on the basis of acquired resistance to bacteriophage lambda infection. Pst I endonuclease was detected in osmotic shock fluid from each of the r...

The homodimeric Ocr (overcome classical restriction) protein of bacteriophage T7 is a molecular mimic of double-stranded DNA and a highly effective competitive inhibitor of the bacterial type I restriction/modification system. The surface of Ocr is replete with acidic residues that mimic the phosphate backbone of DNA. In addition, Ocr also mimics the overall dimensions of a bent 24-bp DNA molec...

Nucleotide sequence comparison of the related 13513-bp plasmid pFV1 and the 11014-bp plasmid pFZ1 from the thermophilic archaeon Methanobacterium thermoformicicum THF and Z-245, respectively, revealed a homologous, approximately 8.2 kb backbone structure that is interrupted by plasmid-specific elements. Various highly conserved palindromic structures and an ORF that could code for a NTP-binding...