Discovery of the widespread site-specific single-stranded nuclease family Ssn

Martin Chenal, Alex Rivera-Millot, Luke B. Harrison, Ahmed S. Khairalla, Cecilia Nieves, Ève Bernet, Mansoore Esmaili, Manel Belkhir, Jonathan Perreault and Frédéric J. Veyrier ()
Additional contact information
Martin Chenal: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Alex Rivera-Millot: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Luke B. Harrison: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Ahmed S. Khairalla: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Cecilia Nieves: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Ève Bernet: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Mansoore Esmaili: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Manel Belkhir: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution
Jonathan Perreault: INRS-Centre Armand-Frappier Santé Biotechnologie
Frédéric J. Veyrier: Bacterial Symbionts Evolution

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Site-specific endonucleases that exclusively cut single-stranded DNA have hitherto never been described and constitute a barrier to the development of ssDNA-based technologies. We identify and characterize one such family, from the GIY-YIG superfamily, of widely distributed site-specific single-stranded nucleases (Ssn) exhibiting unique ssDNA cleavage properties. By first comprehensively studying the Ssn homolog from Neisseria meningitidis, we demonstrate that it interacts specifically with a sequence (called NTS) present in hundreds of copies and surrounding important genes in pathogenic Neisseria. In this species, NTS/Ssn interactions modulate natural transformation and thus constitute an additional mechanism shaping genome dynamics. We further identify thousands of Ssn homologs and demonstrate, in vitro, a range of Ssn nuclease specificities for their corresponding sequence. We demonstrate proofs of concept for applications including ssDNA detection and digestion of ssDNA from RCA. This discovery and its applications set the stage for the development of innovative ssDNA-based molecular tools and technologies.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57514-1 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57514-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57514-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().