Resistance of bacteriophage H1 to restriction and modification by Bacillus subtilis R

Abstract

H1, a 5-hydroxymethyluracil (HMU)-containing Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage, was neither restricted nor modified upon infection of B. subtilis R cells. In vitro, H1 DNA was not restricted by BsuR under standard conditions (200 mM salt), although the expected frequency of -GGCC- cleavage sites was approximately 250. However, four specific sites were cleaved under nonstandard conditions (low salt or high pH) or in the presence of organic solvents, like dimethyl sulfoxide and glycerol. After the substitution of thymine for HMU by DNA cloning in B. subtilis, a BsuR cleavage site was restricted and modified under standard conditions. No additional sites were detected after shotgun-cloning of about 11% of the chromosome. The nucleotide sequence of a cleavage site was found to be 5'. .C-A-Hmu-A-A-C-Hmu-Hmu-Hmu-G-G-C-C-Hmu-A-G-. . .3', which shows the presence of a bona fide BsuR (GGCC) recognition sequence, flanked by (Hmu-A)-rich sequences. The results suggested that the resistance of H1 to restriction and modification by B. subtilis R was due to (i) a strong bias against the GGCC-recognition sequence and (ii) protection of the four remaining GGCC sites as a consequence of HMU-A base pairs flanking the sites.