Related Research Articles
Autolysins are endogenous lytic enzymes that break down the peptidoglycan components of biological cells which enables the separation of daughter cells following cell division. They are involved in cell growth, cell wall metabolism, cell division and separation, as well as peptidoglycan turnover and have similar functions to lysozymes.
Bacillus subtilis, known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus Bacillus, B. subtilis is rod-shaped, and can form a tough, protective endospore, allowing it to tolerate extreme environmental conditions. B. subtilis has historically been classified as an obligate aerobe, though evidence exists that it is a facultative anaerobe. B. subtilis is considered the best studied Gram-positive bacterium and a model organism to study bacterial chromosome replication and cell differentiation. It is one of the bacterial champions in secreted enzyme production and used on an industrial scale by biotechnology companies.
SOS box is the region in the promoter of various genes to which the LexA repressor binds to repress the transcription of SOS-induced proteins. This occurs in the absence of DNA damage. In the presence of DNA damage the binding of LexA is inactivated by the RecA activator. SOS boxes differ in DNA sequences and binding affinity towards LexA from organism to organism. Furthermore, SOS boxes may be present in a dual fashion, which indicates that more than one SOS box can be within the same promoter.
In the regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes, anti-sigma factors bind to sigma factors and inhibit transcriptional activity. Anti-sigma factors have been found in a number of bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Salmonella, and in the T4 bacteriophage. Anti-sigma factors are antagonists to the sigma factors, which regulate numerous cell processes including flagellar production, stress response, transport and cellular growth. For example, anti-sigma factor 70 Rsd in E. coli is present in the stationary phase and blocks the activity of sigma factor 70 which in essence initiates gene transcription. This allows the sigma S factor to associate with RNA polymerase and direct the expression of the stationary genes. Although binding of Rsd to σ70 has been shown and numerous structural studies on Rsd have been performed, the detailed mechanism of action is still unknown.
The gene rpoF encodes the sigma factor sigma-28, a protein in Escherichia coli and other species of bacteria. Depending on the bacterial species, this gene may be referred to as sigD or fliA. The protein encoded by this gene has been found to be necessary for flagellum formation.
The transsulfuration pathway is a metabolic pathway involving the interconversion of cysteine and homocysteine through the intermediate cystathionine. Two transsulfurylation pathways are known: the forward and the reverse.
Swarming motility is a rapid and coordinated translocation of a bacterial population across solid or semi-solid surfaces, and is an example of bacterial multicellularity and swarm behaviour. Swarming motility was first reported by Jorgen Henrichsen and has been mostly studied in genus Serratia, Salmonella, Aeromonas, Bacillus, Yersinia, Pseudomonas, Proteus, Vibrio and Escherichia.
An origin of transfer (oriT) is a short sequence ranging from 40-500 base pairs in length that is necessary for the transfer of DNA from a gram-negative bacterial donor to recipient during bacterial conjugation. The transfer of DNA is a critical component for antimicrobial resistance within bacterial cells and the oriT structure and mechanism within plasmid DNA is complementary to its function in bacterial conjugation. The first oriT to be identified and cloned was on the RK2 (IncP) conjugative plasmid, which was done by Guiney and Helinski in 1979.
Bifunctional (p)ppGpp synthase/hydrolase SpoT or SpoT is a regulatory enzyme in the RelA/SpoT Homologue (RSH) protein family that synthesizes and hydrolyzes (p)ppGpp to regulate the bacterial stringent response to environmental stressors. SpoT is considered a "long" form RSH protein and is found in many bacteria and plant chloroplasts. SpoT and its homologues have been studied in bacterial model organism E.coli for their role in the production and degradation of (p)ppGpp in the stringent response pathway.
Sortase refers to a group of prokaryotic enzymes that modify surface proteins by recognizing and cleaving a carboxyl-terminal sorting signal. For most substrates of sortase enzymes, the recognition signal consists of the motif LPXTG (Leu-Pro-any-Thr-Gly), then a highly hydrophobic transmembrane sequence, followed by a cluster of basic residues such as arginine. Cleavage occurs between the Thr and Gly, with transient attachment through the Thr residue to the active site Cys residue, followed by transpeptidation that attaches the protein covalently to cell wall components. Sortases occur in almost all Gram-positive bacteria and the occasional Gram-negative bacterium or Archaea, where cell wall LPXTG-mediated decoration has not been reported. Although sortase A, the "housekeeping" sortase, typically acts on many protein targets, other forms of sortase recognize variant forms of the cleavage motif, or catalyze the assembly of pilins into pili.
Roberto Kolter is Professor of Microbiology, Emeritus at Harvard Medical School, an author, and past president of the American Society for Microbiology. Kolter has been a professor at Harvard Medical School since 1983 and was Co-director of Harvard's Microbial Sciences Initiative from 2003-2018. During the 35-year term of the Kolter laboratory from 1983 to 2018, more than 130 graduate student and postdoctoral trainees explored an eclectic mix of topics gravitating around the study of microbes. Kolter is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Academy of Microbiology.
In molecular biology, the KduI/IolB isomerase family is a family of isomerase enzymes that includes 4-deoxy-L-threo-5-hexosulose-uronate ketol-isomerase (KduI) and 5-deoxy-glucuronate isomerase (IolB).
The gab operon is responsible for the conversion of γ-aminobutyrate (GABA) to succinate. The gab operon comprises three structural genes – gabD, gabT and gabP – that encode for a succinate semialdehyde dehydrogenase, GABA transaminase and a GABA permease respectively. There is a regulatory gene csiR, downstream of the operon, that codes for a putative transcriptional repressor and is activated when nitrogen is limiting.
Signal peptidase I is an enzyme. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Peptidase Do is an enzyme. This enzyme catalyses the following chemical reaction
Sortases are membrane anchored enzyme that sort these surface proteins onto the bacterial cell surface and anchor them to the peptidoglycan. There are different types of sortases and each catalyse the anchoring of different proteins to cell walls.
The bacterial murein precursor exporter (MPE) family is a member of the cation diffusion facilitator (CDF) superfamily of membrane transporters. Members of the MPE family are found in a large variety of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and facilitate the translocation of lipid-linked murein precursors. A representative list of proteins belonging to the MPE family can be found in the Transporter Classification Database.
The Disulfide bond oxidoreductase D (DsbD) family is a member of the Lysine Exporter (LysE) Superfamily. A representative list of proteins belonging to the DsbD family can be found in the Transporter Classification Base.
The Phosphate (Pho) regulon is a regulatory mechanism used for the conservation and management of inorganic phosphate within the cell. It was first discovered in Escherichia coli as an operating system for the bacterial strain, and was later identified in other species. The Pho system is composed of various components including extracellular enzymes and transporters that are capable of phosphate assimilation in addition to extracting inorganic phosphate from organic sources. This is an essential process since phosphate plays an important role in cellular membranes, genetic expression, and metabolism within the cell. Under low nutrient availability, the Pho regulon helps the cell survive and thrive despite a depletion of phosphate within the environment. When this occurs, phosphate starvation-inducible (psi) genes activate other proteins that aid in the transport of inorganic phosphate.
The Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron genome contains hundreds of small RNAs (sRNAs), discovered through RNA sequencing. These include canonical housekeeping RNA species such as the 6S RNA (SsrS), tmRNA (SsrA), M1 RNA (RnpB) and 4.5S RNA (Ffs) as well as several hundred cis and trans encoded small RNAs. More than 20 candidates have been validated with northern blots and the structures of several members have been characterized through in silico analyses and chemical probing experiments.
References
- ↑ Wakeley PR, Dorazi R, Hoa NT, Bowyer JR, Cutting SM (June 2000). "Proteolysis of SpolVB is a critical determinant in signalling of Pro-sigmaK processing in Bacillus subtilis". Molecular Microbiology. 36 (6): 1336–48. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2000.01946.x . PMID 10931284.
- ↑ Hoa NT, Brannigan JA, Cutting SM (July 2001). "The PDZ domain of the SpoIVB serine peptidase facilitates multiple functions". Journal of Bacteriology. 183 (14): 4364–73. doi:10.1128/jb.183.14.4364-4373.2001. PMC 95327 . PMID 11418578.
- ↑ Hoa NT, Brannigan JA, Cutting SM (January 2002). "The Bacillus subtilis signaling protein SpoIVB defines a new family of serine peptidases". Journal of Bacteriology. 184 (1): 191–9. doi:10.1128/jb.184.1.191-199.2002. PMC 134772 . PMID 11741860.
- ↑ Dong TC, Cutting SM (September 2003). "SpoIVB-mediated cleavage of SpoIVFA could provide the intercellular signal to activate processing of Pro-sigmaK in Bacillus subtilis". Molecular Microbiology. 49 (5): 1425–34. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2003.03651.x . PMID 12940997.
