Bacterial epigenetics opens door to novel frontier in Infection biology

Bacteria, like eukaryotes, use post-replicative DNA methylation to regulate the epigenetic regulation of DNA–protein interactions. In bacteria, DNA methyltransferases (Mtases) are common, and the majority of them are part of restriction-modification systems. Environmental factors influence DNA methylation patterns by altering regulatory protein binding. As an epigenetic cue, bacteria use DNA adenine methylation rather than DNA cytosine methylation. The virulence of various human pathogens is influenced by DNA adenine methylation. Methylome research has contributed to the discovery of a wide range of Mtases and their unique target sequences. The mRNA alteration via methylation and capping contributes to bacterial epigenetics alongside DNA modifications. Research on phase-variable Type I and Type III restriction-modification systems in multiple human-adapted bacterial pathogens have revealed global variations in methylation in regulating the expression of multiple genes. Bacteria can also influence the chromatin structure and transcriptional program of host cells by influencing various epigenetic factors, as per recent findings. Bacterial infection is increasingly being shown to play a role in modulating the epigenetic information of host cells through a variety of mechanisms. Further challenging realm is to uncover the function of chromatin modifications and their regulators in the physiopathology of infectious diseases. This will open new possibilities for future study in the field of bacterial pathogenesis and chromatin-based defense gene regulation.