Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Retraction Of Dna-Bound Type Iv Competence Pili Initiates Dna Uptake During Natural Transformation In Vibrio Cholerae, Courtney K. Ellison, Triana N. Dalia, Alfredo Vidal Ceballos, Joseph Che-Yen Wang, Nicolas Biais, Yves V. Brun, Ankur B. Dalia

Publications and Research

Natural transformation is a broadly conserved mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in bacterial species that can shape evolution and foster the spread of antibiotic resistance determinants, promote antigenic variation, and lead to the acquisition of novel virulence factors. Surface appendages called competence pili promote DNA uptake during the first step of natural transformation1 , however, their mechanism of action has remained unclear due to an absence of methods to visualize these structures in live cells. Here, using the model naturally transformable species Vibrio cholerae and a pilus labeling method, we define the mechanism for type IV competence pilus-mediated DNA uptake …