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H-NS, the genome sentinel

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 5, pages 157–161 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Two recent reports have indicated that the H-NS protein in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium has a key role in selectively silencing the transcription of large numbers of horizontally acquired AT-rich genes, including those that make up its major pathogenicity islands. Broadly similar conclusions have emerged from a study of H-NS binding to DNA in Escherichia coli. How do these findings affect our view of H-NS and its ability to influence bacterial evolution?

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Figure 1: H-NS as a gene silencer.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Niamh Ní Bhriain for insightful comments on the manuscript and I am grateful to Jay Hinton, Ferric Fang, William Navarre and Marie Doyle for helpful discussions. Work in the author's laboratory is supported by grants from the Science Foundation Ireland and the Wellcome Trust.

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  1. the Department of Microbiology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Charles J. Dorman

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DATABASES

Entrez Genome Project

Escherichia coli

S. typhimurium

Shigella flexneri

Vibrio cholerae

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Dorman, C. H-NS, the genome sentinel. Nat Rev Microbiol 5, 157–161 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro1598

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