Actinoplanes missouriensiss is a rare actinomycete that forms terminal sporangia containing a few hundred flagellated, motile spores (shown here in a scanning EM image). The TcrA response regulator controls sporangium formation and flagellar biogenesis through the activation of dozens of genes, including three encoding FliA ‐family sigma factors. For details, see the article by Mouri et al. on pp. 718–733 of this issue.
(Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 6, 2018 Category: Microbiology Tags: Front Cover Source Type: research
Methionine is required for cAMP ‐PKA‐mediated morphogenesis and virulence of Candida albicans
Summary
Candida albicans is a major human fungal pathogen, causing superficial, as well as life‐threatening invasive infections. Therefore, it has to adequately sense and respond to the host defense by expressing appropriate virulence attributes. The most important virulence factor of C. albicans is the yeast‐to‐hyphae morphogenetic switch, which can be induced by numerous environmental cues, including the amino acid methionine. Here, we show an essential role for methionine permease Mup1 in methionine‐induced morphogenesis, biofilm formation, survival inside macrophages and virulence. Furthermore, we demonstrate t...
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 6, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Sanne Schrevens, Griet Van Zeebroeck, Michael Riedelberger, H élène Tournu, Karl Kuchler, Patrick Van Dijck Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
LytM factor Alr3353 affects filament morphology and cell –cell communication in the multicellular cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7120
Molecular Microbiology, EarlyView. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 2, 2018 Category: Microbiology Source Type: research
Leishmania mexicana can utilize amino acids as major carbon sources in macrophages but not in animal models
Molecular Microbiology, EarlyView. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 2, 2018 Category: Microbiology Source Type: research
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Molecular Microbiology, Ahead of Print. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 2, 2018 Category: Microbiology Source Type: research
Glutamine ‐rich toxic proteins GrtA, GrtB, and GrtC together with the antisense RNA AsgR constitute a toxin–antitoxin‐like system in Corynebacterium glutamicum
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
We report a new type I toxin‐antitoxin system in Corynebacterium glutamicum which is a workhorse of amino acid production. The TA system is composed of three repeated glutamine‐rich proteins encoded by grtABC genes and an antisense small RNA AsgR. The expression of grtABC is induced by several stressors while the repression of grtABC is achieved by the grtA‐AsgR duplex formation at the 3′ untranslated region (3′‐UTR) and subsequent degradation by RNase III. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 1, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Tomoya Maeda, Yuya Tanaka, Masayuki Inui Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
SusE facilitates starch uptake independent of starch binding in B. thetaiotaomicron
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Human gut Bacteroidetes use multi‐protein cell surface complexes to catabolize numerous dietary polysaccharides that the host cannot digest. Here we reveal that starch‐binding proteins of the starch utilization system in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron facilitate glycan import independent of their binding sites and influence the length of glycan preferentially imported by the bacterium. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 1, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Matthew H. Foley, Eric C. Martens, Nicole M. Koropatkin Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Tandem tyrosine phosphosites in the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli chaperone CesT are required for differential type III effector translocation and virulence
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Pathogens with type III secretion systems (T3SS) absolutely require dedicated chaperone proteins to mediate efficient effector protein injection into host cells during infection. In this study, we implicate tandem tyrosine phosphosites of CesT in differentially regulating effector secretion and contributing to intestinal disease. These findings expand the functional importance of CesT in context of bacterial pathogenesis, revealing an unexpected phosphosite specificity for a T3SS chaperone. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 1, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Cameron S. Runte, Umang Jain, Landon J. Getz, Sabrina Secord, Asaomi Kuwae, Akio Abe, Jason J. LeBlanc, Andrew W. Stadnyk, James B. Kaper, Anne ‐Marie Hansen, Nikhil A. Thomas Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
A Toxoplasma gondii locus required for the direct manipulation of host mitochondria has maintained multiple ancestral functions
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Only some Mitochondrial association factor 1 (MAF1) paralogs in Toxoplasma gondii mediate association between the vacuole and host mitochondria. Using comparative structural analyses we find that functional differences are determined by only a few residues in the C‐terminus. We also show that a conserved vestigial ADPr binding cleft may represent an ancestral function that was likely present in an ancestral MAF1 ortholog that had yet to acquire the ability to manipulate host mitochondria during infection. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 1, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Matthew L. Blank, Michelle L. Parker, Raghavendran Ramaswamy, Cameron J. Powell, Elizabeth D. English, Yaw Adomako ‐Ankomah, Lena F. Pernas, Sean D. Workman, John C. Boothroyd, Martin J. Boulanger, Jon P. Boyle Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Iron ‐sulfur protein maturation in Helicobacter pylori:Identifying a Nfu‐type cluster carrier protein and its iron‐sulfur protein targets
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Helicobacter pylori is anomalous among non‐nitrogen fixing bacteria in containing an incomplete NIF system for Fe‐S cluster assembly, comprised of NifS, NifU and a Nfu‐type protein. NifU‐depleted strains and Δnfu mutants were constructed and characterized. Recombinant Nfu was found to bind either one [2Fe‐2S] or [4Fe‐4S] cluster/dimer, based on analytical, UV‐visible absorption/CD and resonance Raman studies. A bacterial two‐hybrid system was used to ascertain interactions between Nfu, NifS, NifU, and each of 36 putative Fe‐S‐containing targ...
Source: Molecular Microbiology - March 1, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: St éphane L. Benoit, Ashley A. Holland, Michael K. Johnson, Robert J. Maier Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Mycobacteriophage Fruitloop gp52 inactivates Wag31 (DivIVA) to prevent heterotypic superinfection
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Expression of gene 52 of mycobacteriophage Fruitloop leads to death of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Fruitloop gp52 is a 93‐residue protein that interacts with Wag31, a host protein proposed to be an organizer of cell wall biosynthetic machinery at the growing pole of the cell. Wag31 is an essential gene in M. smegmatis and a potential target for anti‐tuberculosis drugs. Fruitloop gp52 is expressed in lytic growth and inactivates Wag31, preventing superinfection by Wag31‐dependent phages. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - February 28, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Ching ‐Chung Ko, Graham F. Hatfull Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
A revised model for the control of fatty acid synthesis by master regulator Spo0A in Bacillus subtilis
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
The fatty acid metabolism operon accDA is controlled by the master regulator Spo0A and a fluorescent fusion to its gene product AccA forms discrete puncta at the cell membrane in Bacillus subtilis. Here we demonstrate that the fine‐tuning of fatty acid synthesis via Spo0A and the essential enzyme acetyl‐CoA carboxylase is required for timely sporulation and the proper construction of biofilms. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - February 28, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Lindsey Haggett, Archna Bhasin, Priyanka Srivastava, Masaya Fujita Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
Hyphal induction under the condition without inoculation in Candida albicans is triggered by Brg1 ‐mediated removal of NRG1 inhibition
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Candida albicans, a major opportunistic fungal pathogen of humans, can switch between yeast and hyphae growth forms, which is critical for its pathogenesis. GlcNAc (N‐acetylglucosamine)‐induced hyphal growth in log phase cells requires Ngs1 (GlcNAc sensor)‐mediated activation of BRG1 expression, which down‐regulates NRG1 transcript. Hyphal development induced by serum or neutral pH under the condition without inoculation is also triggered by Brg1‐mediated removal of Nrg1 inhibition. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Source: Molecular Microbiology - February 27, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Chang Su, Jing Yu, Qiangqiang Sun, Qian Liu, Yang Lu Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
The Bordetella bronchiseptica nic locus encodes a nicotinic acid degradation pathway and the 6 ‐hydroxynicotinate‐responsive regulator BpsR
This study determined the distribution of the nic genes among Bordetella species and analyzed the regulation of this nicotinic acid degradation system. Transcription of the Bordetella bronchiseptica nicC gene was repressed by the NicR ortholog, BpsR, previously shown to regulate extracellular polysaccharide synthesis genes. nicC expression was derepressed by nicotinic acid or by the first product of the degradation pathway, 6‐hydroxynicotinic acid, which was shown to be the inducer. Results using mutants with either a hyperactivated pathway or an inactivated pathway showed a marked effect on growth on nicotinic acid that...
Source: Molecular Microbiology - February 27, 2018 Category: Microbiology Authors: Timothy J. Brickman, Sandra K. Armstrong Tags: Research Article Source Type: research
