# | Rank | Similarity | Title + Abs. | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 616 | 0 | 0.9000 | Identification of lipoteichoic acid as a ligand for draper in the phagocytosis of Staphylococcus aureus by Drosophila hemocytes. Phagocytosis is central to cellular immunity against bacterial infections. As in mammals, both opsonin-dependent and -independent mechanisms of phagocytosis seemingly exist in Drosophila. Although candidate Drosophila receptors for phagocytosis have been reported, how they recognize bacteria, either directly or indirectly, remains to be elucidated. We searched for the Staphylococcus aureus genes required for phagocytosis by Drosophila hemocytes in a screening of mutant strains with defects in the structure of the cell wall. The genes identified included ltaS, which encodes an enzyme responsible for the synthesis of lipoteichoic acid. ltaS-dependent phagocytosis of S. aureus required the receptor Draper but not Eater or Nimrod C1, and Draper-lacking flies showed reduced resistance to a septic infection of S. aureus without a change in a humoral immune response. Finally, lipoteichoic acid bound to the extracellular region of Draper. We propose that lipoteichoic acid serves as a ligand for Draper in the phagocytosis of S. aureus by Drosophila hemocytes and that the phagocytic elimination of invading bacteria is required for flies to survive the infection. | 2009 | 19890048 |
| 8207 | 1 | 0.8980 | Functional amyloid proteins confer defence against predatory bacteria. Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a predatory bacterium that non-selectively preys on Gram-negative bacteria by invading the prey-cell periplasm, leaching host nutrients and ultimately lysing the infected cell to exit and find a new host(1,2). The predatory life cycle of B. bacteriovorus is, in many ways, comparable to a bacteriophage. However, unlike phage defence, defence against B. bacteriovorus has not been widely investigated. Here we screened a collection of diverse Escherichia coli strains for resistance to B. bacteriovorus and identified that roughly one-third of strains robustly defended against predation by producing curli fibres. Curli fibres are oligomers of the functional amyloid protein CsgA, which is exceptionally durable(3). Using genetics and microscopy, we demonstrate that curli fibres provide a barrier that protects susceptible cells independent of genes required for biofilm formation. This barrier further protected E. coli against attack by the predatory bacterium Myxococcus xanthus and select phages. Bioinformatic analysis of bacterial amyloids showed these systems are diverse and widespread in diderm bacteria (those with both inner and outer membranes). One of these, an evolutionarily distinct amyloid encoded by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, also protected against B. bacteriovorus. This work establishes that functional amyloids defend bacteria against a wide range of threats. | 2025 | 40604283 |
| 558 | 2 | 0.8962 | Thiamine pyrophosphate riboswitches are targets for the antimicrobial compound pyrithiamine. Thiamine metabolism genes are regulated in numerous bacteria by a riboswitch class that binds the coenzyme thiamine pyrophosphate (TPP). We demonstrate that the antimicrobial action of the thiamine analog pyrithiamine (PT) is mediated by interaction with TPP riboswitches in bacteria and fungi. For example, pyrithiamine pyrophosphate (PTPP) binds the TPP riboswitch controlling the tenA operon in Bacillus subtilis. Expression of a TPP riboswitch-regulated reporter gene is reduced in transgenic B. subtilis or Escherichia coli when grown in the presence of thiamine or PT, while mutant riboswitches in these organisms are unresponsive to these ligands. Bacteria selected for PT resistance bear specific mutations that disrupt ligand binding to TPP riboswitches and derepress certain TPP metabolic genes. Our findings demonstrate that riboswitches can serve as antimicrobial drug targets and expand our understanding of thiamine metabolism in bacteria. | 2005 | 16356850 |
| 8434 | 3 | 0.8950 | A potent and selective antimicrobial poly(amidoamine) dendrimer conjugate with LED209 targeting QseC receptor to inhibit the virulence genes of gram negative bacteria. The pandemic of multidrug-resistant Gram negative bacteria (GNB) is a worldwide healthcare concern, and very few antibiotics are being explored to match the clinical challenge. Recently, amino-terminated poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers have shown potential to function as broad antimicrobial agents. However, PAMAM displays a generation dependent cytotoxicity to mammalian cells and low selectivity on bacterial cells, which limits PAMAM to be developed as an antibacterial agent for systemic administration. We conjugated G3 PAMAM with LED209, a specific inhibitor of quorum sensor QseC of GNB, to generate a multifunctional agent PAMAM-LED209. Intriguingly, PAMAM-LED209 showed higher selectivity on GNB and lower cytotoxicity to mammalian cells, yet remained strong antibacterial activity. PAMAM-LED209 also inhibited virulence gene expression of GNB, and did not induce antibiotic-resistance. The present work firstly demonstrated that PAMAM-LED209 conjugate had a highly selective anti-GNB activity and low cytotoxicity, which offered a feasible strategy for combating multidrug-resistant GNB infections. FROM THE CLINICAL EDITOR: This research team demonstrated that a novel PAMAM-LED209 conjugate had highly selective activity against Gram-negative bacteria, coupled with low cytotoxicity, offering a potential strategy for combating multidrug-resistant infections. | 2015 | 25461286 |
| 748 | 4 | 0.8942 | Contact-dependent growth inhibition toxins exploit multiple independent cell-entry pathways. Contact-dependent growth inhibition (CDI) systems function to deliver toxins into neighboring bacterial cells. CDI+ bacteria export filamentous CdiA effector proteins, which extend from the inhibitor-cell surface to interact with receptors on neighboring target bacteria. Upon binding its receptor, CdiA delivers a toxin derived from its C-terminal region. CdiA C-terminal (CdiA-CT) sequences are highly variable between bacteria, reflecting the multitude of CDI toxin activities. Here, we show that several CdiA-CT regions are composed of two domains, each with a distinct function during CDI. The C-terminal domain typically possesses toxic nuclease activity, whereas the N-terminal domain appears to control toxin transport into target bacteria. Using genetic approaches, we identified ptsG, metI, rbsC, gltK/gltJ, yciB, and ftsH mutations that confer resistance to specific CdiA-CTs. The resistance mutations all disrupt expression of inner-membrane proteins, suggesting that these proteins are exploited for toxin entry into target cells. Moreover, each mutation only protects against inhibition by a subset of CdiA-CTs that share similar N-terminal domains. We propose that, following delivery of CdiA-CTs into the periplasm, the N-terminal domains bind specific inner-membrane receptors for subsequent translocation into the cytoplasm. In accord with this model, we find that CDI nuclease domains are modular payloads that can be redirected through different import pathways when fused to heterologous N-terminal "translocation domains." These results highlight the plasticity of CDI toxin delivery and suggest that the underlying translocation mechanisms could be harnessed to deliver other antimicrobial agents into Gram-negative bacteria. | 2015 | 26305955 |
| 621 | 5 | 0.8939 | Activation of ChvG-ChvI regulon by cell wall stress confers resistance to β-lactam antibiotics and initiates surface spreading in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. A core component of nearly all bacteria, the cell wall is an ideal target for broad spectrum antibiotics. Many bacteria have evolved strategies to sense and respond to antibiotics targeting cell wall synthesis, especially in the soil where antibiotic-producing bacteria compete with one another. Here we show that cell wall stress caused by both chemical and genetic inhibition of the essential, bifunctional penicillin-binding protein PBP1a prevents microcolony formation and activates the canonical host-invasion two-component system ChvG-ChvI in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Using RNA-seq, we show that depletion of PBP1a for 6 hours results in a downregulation in transcription of flagellum-dependent motility genes and an upregulation in transcription of type VI secretion and succinoglycan biosynthesis genes, a hallmark of the ChvG-ChvI regulon. Depletion of PBP1a for 16 hours, results in differential expression of many additional genes and may promote a stress response, resembling those of sigma factors in other bacteria. Remarkably, the overproduction of succinoglycan causes cell spreading and deletion of the succinoglycan biosynthesis gene exoA restores microcolony formation. Treatment with cefsulodin phenocopies depletion of PBP1a and we correspondingly find that chvG and chvI mutants are hypersensitive to cefsulodin. This hypersensitivity only occurs in response to treatment with β-lactam antibiotics, suggesting that the ChvG-ChvI pathway may play a key role in resistance to antibiotics targeting cell wall synthesis. Finally, we provide evidence that ChvG-ChvI likely has a conserved role in conferring resistance to cell wall stress within the Alphaproteobacteria that is independent of the ChvG-ChvI repressor ExoR. | 2022 | 36480495 |
| 541 | 6 | 0.8939 | A Teleost Bactericidal Permeability-Increasing Protein Kills Gram-Negative Bacteria, Modulates Innate Immune Response, and Enhances Resistance against Bacterial and Viral Infection. Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) is an important factor of innate immunity that in mammals is known to take part in the clearance of invading Gram-negative bacteria. In teleost, the function of BPI is unknown. In the present work, we studied the function of tongue sole (Cynoglossus semilaevis) BPI, CsBPI. We found that CsBPI was produced extracellularly by peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL). Recombinant CsBPI (rCsBPI) was able to bind to a number of Gram-negative bacteria but not Gram-positive bacteria. Binding to bacteria led to bacterial death through membrane permeabilization and structural destruction, and the bound bacteria were more readily taken up by PBL. In vivo, rCsBPI augmented the expression of a wide arrange of genes involved in antibacterial and antiviral immunity. Furthermore, rCsBPI enhanced the resistance of tongue sole against bacterial as well as viral infection. These results indicate for the first time that a teleost BPI possesses immunoregulatory effect and plays a significant role in antibacterial and antiviral defense. | 2016 | 27105425 |
| 344 | 7 | 0.8937 | Identification of genes in Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii whose products are homologues to a family of ATP-binding proteins. The specific interaction between rhizobia and their hosts requires many genes that influence both early and late steps in symbiosis. Three new genes, designated prsD, prsE (protein secretion) and orf3, were identified adjacent to the exo133 mutation in a cosmid carrying the genomic DNA of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii TA1. The prsDE genes share significant homology to the genes encoding ABC transporter proteins PrtDE from Erwinia chrysanthemi and AprDE from Pseudomonas aeruginosa which export the proteases in these bacteria. PrsD shows at least five potential transmembrane hydrophobic regions and a large hydrophilic domain containing an ATP/GTP binding cassette. PrsE has only one potential transmembrane hydrophobic domain in the N-terminal part and is proposed to function as an accessory factor in the transport system. ORF3, like PrtF and AprF, has a typical N-terminal signal sequence but has no homology to these proteins. The insertion of a kanamycin resistance cassette into the prsD gene of the R. leguminosarum bv. trifolii TA1 wild-type strain created a mutant which produced a normal amount of exopolysaccharide but was not effective in the nodulation of clover plants. | 1997 | 9141701 |
| 8744 | 8 | 0.8936 | The Arabidopsis GPI-Anchored LTPg5 Encoded by At3g22600 Has a Role in Resistance against a Diverse Range of Pathogens. Arabidopsis contains 34 genes for glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored LTPg proteins. A motif analysis has placed these into four groups. With one exception, all are produced with a signal peptide and are most likely attached to the cell membrane via the GPI anchor. Several of the LTPg genes across the four groups are downregulated in syncytia induced by the beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii. We have here studied At3g22600 encoding LTPg5, which is the most strongly downregulated LTPg gene. It is mainly expressed in roots, and a promoter::GUS line was used to confirm the downregulation in syncytia and also showed downregulation in galls of the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. In contrast, infection with bacteria (Pseudomonas syringae) and fungi (Botrytis cinerea) led to the induction of the gene in leaves. This diverse regulation of LTPg5 indicated a role in resistance, which we confirmed with overexpression lines and a T-DNA mutant. The overexpression lines were more resistant to both nematode species and to P. syringae and B. cinerea, while a knock-out mutant was more susceptible to H. schachtii and P. syringae. Thus, LTPg5 encoded by At3g22600 is part of the Arabidopsis resistance mechanism against pathogens. LTPg5 has probably no direct antimicrobial activity but could perhaps act by associating with a receptor-like kinase, leading to the induction of defense genes such as PR1. | 2020 | 32150834 |
| 617 | 9 | 0.8933 | Lytic action of cloned pneumococcal phage lysis genes in Streptococcus pneumoniae. The genes hbl3, cpl1 and cpl7 coding for the pneumococcal phage lytic enzymes HBL3, CPL1 and CPL7, respectively, have been cloned into shuttle plasmids that can replicate in Streptococcus pneumoniae and Escherichia coli. All these genes were expressed in E. coli under the control of either the lytP promoter of the lytA gene, which codes for the major pneumococcal autolysin, or the promoter of the tetracycline-resistance gene (tetP). In contrast, cpl1 and cpl7 genes that code for lysozymes were expressed in pneumococcus only under the control of tetP, whereas the hbl3 gene that codes for an amidase can be expressed using either promoter. The phage lysozymes or amidase expressed in S. pneumoniae M31, a mutant deleted in the lytA gene coding for short chains, were placed under physiological control since these transformed bacteria grew as normal 'diplo' cells during the exponential phase and underwent autolysis only after long incubation at 37 degrees C. The lysis genes appear to be expressed constitutively in the transformed pneumococci, since sharply defined lysis of these cultures could be induced prematurely during the exponential phase of growth by addition of sodium deoxycholate. | 1993 | 8472929 |
| 199 | 10 | 0.8930 | Activation of Imd pathway in hemocyte confers infection resistance through humoral response in Drosophila. Upon microbial invasion the innate immune system of Drosophila melanogaster mounts a response that comes in two distinct but complimentary forms, humoral and cellular. A screen to find genes capable of conferring resistance to the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus upon ectopic expression in immune response tissues uncovered imd gene. This resistance was not dependent on cellular defenses but rather likely a result of upregulation of the humoral response through increased expression of antimicrobial peptides, including a Toll pathway reporter gene drosomycin. Taken together it appears that Imd pathway is capable of playing a role in resistance to the Gram-positive S. aureus, counter to notions of traditional roles of the Imd pathway thought largely to responsible for resistance to Gram-negative bacteria. | 2013 | 23261474 |
| 746 | 11 | 0.8929 | Novel antimicrobial 3-phenyl-4-phenoxypyrazole derivatives target cell wall lipid intermediates with low mammalian cytotoxicity. The growing crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) underscores the critical need for innovative antimicrobial discoveries. Novel antibiotics targeting the bacterial cell wall remain an attractive area of research, due to their conservation and essentiality in bacteria and their absence in eukaryotic cells. Antibiotics targeting lipid II are of special interest due to the reduced potential for target modification of lipid components and their surface accessibility to inhibitors. In this study, we identified 3-phenyl-4-phenoxypyrazole analogues named PYO12 and PYO12a with bactericidal activity against gram-positive bacteria and low cytotoxicity for different types of mammalian cells. Gram-negative bacteria were resistant to PYO12 activity through extrusion of this compound via efflux pumps. Exposure to PYO12 induces expression of genes involved in resistance to antimicrobials targeting the cell wall, suggesting that PYO12 acts via binding to lipid II or other lipid intermediates involved in peptidoglycan or teichoic acid biosynthesis. Antagonism of PYO12 antibacterial activity by undecaprenyl-pyrophosphate supports the idea that PYO12 may bind to the lipid moiety of lipid II blocking the shuttling of peptidoglycan precursors across the cytoplasmic membrane. These findings open opportunities to further develop these compounds as antibiotics targeting bacterial cell wall synthesis. | 2025 | 41083642 |
| 331 | 12 | 0.8922 | MmpS4 promotes glycopeptidolipids biosynthesis and export in Mycobacterium smegmatis. The MmpS family (mycobacterial membrane protein small) includes over 100 small membrane proteins specific to the genus Mycobacterium that have not yet been studied experimentally. The genes encoding MmpS proteins are often associated with mmpL genes, which are homologous to the RND (resistance nodulation cell division) genes of Gram-negative bacteria that encode proteins functioning as multidrug efflux system. We showed by molecular genetics and biochemical analysis that MmpS4 in Mycobacterium smegmatis is required for the production and export of large amounts of cell surface glycolipids, but is dispensable for biosynthesis per se. A new specific and sensitive method utilizing single-chain antibodies against the surface-exposed glycolipids was developed to confirm that MmpS4 was dispensable for transport to the surface. Orthologous complementation demonstrated that the MmpS4 proteins are exchangeable, thus not specific to a defined lipid species. MmpS4 function requires the formation of a protein complex at the pole of the bacillus, which requires the extracytosolic C-terminal domain of MmpS4. We suggest that MmpS proteins facilitate lipid biosynthesis by acting as a scaffold for coupled biosynthesis and transport machinery. | 2010 | 21062372 |
| 749 | 13 | 0.8920 | Omptin Proteases of Enterobacterales Show Conserved Regulation by the PhoPQ Two-Component System but Exhibit Divergent Protection from Antimicrobial Host Peptides and Complement. Bacteria that colonize eukaryotic surfaces interact with numerous antimicrobial host-produced molecules, including host defense peptides, complement, and antibodies. Bacteria have evolved numerous strategies to both detect and resist these molecules, and in the Enterobacterales order of bacteria these include alterations of the cell surface lipopolysaccharide structure and/or charge and the production of proteases that can degrade these antimicrobial molecules. Here, we show that omptin family proteases from Escherichia coli and Citrobacter rodentium are regulated by the PhoPQ system. Omptin protease activity is induced by growth in low Mg(2+), and deletion of PhoP dramatically reduces omptin protease activity, transcriptional regulation, and protein levels. We identify conserved PhoP-binding sites in the promoters of the E. coli omptin genes ompT, ompP, and arlC as well as in croP of Citrobacter rodentium and show that mutation of the putative PhoP-binding site in the ompT promoter abrogates PhoP-dependent expression. Finally, we show that although regulation by PhoPQ is conserved, each of the omptin proteins has differential activity toward host defense peptides, complement components, and resistance to human serum, suggesting that each omptin confers unique survival advantages against specific host antimicrobial factors. | 2023 | 36533918 |
| 519 | 14 | 0.8919 | The Ruegeria pomeroyi acuI gene has a role in DMSP catabolism and resembles yhdH of E. coli and other bacteria in conferring resistance to acrylate. The Escherichia coli YhdH polypeptide is in the MDR012 sub-group of medium chain reductase/dehydrogenases, but its biological function was unknown and no phenotypes of YhdH(-) mutants had been described. We found that an E. coli strain with an insertional mutation in yhdH was hyper-sensitive to inhibitory effects of acrylate, and, to a lesser extent, to those of 3-hydroxypropionate. Close homologues of YhdH occur in many Bacterial taxa and at least two animals. The acrylate sensitivity of YhdH(-) mutants was corrected by the corresponding, cloned homologues from several bacteria. One such homologue is acuI, which has a role in acrylate degradation in marine bacteria that catabolise dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) an abundant anti-stress compound made by marine phytoplankton. The acuI genes of such bacteria are often linked to ddd genes that encode enzymes that cleave DMSP into acrylate plus dimethyl sulfide (DMS), even though these are in different polypeptide families, in unrelated bacteria. Furthermore, most strains of Roseobacters, a clade of abundant marine bacteria, cleave DMSP into acrylate plus DMS, and can also demethylate it, using DMSP demethylase. In most Roseobacters, the corresponding gene, dmdA, lies immediately upstream of acuI and in the model Roseobacter strain Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3, dmdA-acuI were co-regulated in response to the co-inducer, acrylate. These observations, together with findings by others that AcuI has acryloyl-CoA reductase activity, lead us to suggest that YdhH/AcuI enzymes protect cells against damaging effects of intracellular acryloyl-CoA, formed endogenously, and/or via catabolising exogenous acrylate. To provide "added protection" for bacteria that form acrylate from DMSP, acuI was recruited into clusters of genes involved in this conversion and, in the case of acuI and dmdA in the Roseobacters, their co-expression may underpin an interaction between the two routes of DMSP catabolism, whereby the acrylate product of DMSP lyases is a co-inducer for the demethylation pathway. | 2012 | 22563425 |
| 806 | 15 | 0.8917 | A two-component small multidrug resistance pump functions as a metabolic valve during nicotine catabolism by Arthrobacter nicotinovorans. The genes nepAB of a small multidrug resistance (SMR) pump were identified as part of the pAO1-encoded nicotine regulon responsible for nicotine catabolism in Arthrobacter nicotinovorans. When [(14)C]nicotine was added to the growth medium the bacteria exported the (14)C-labelled end product of nicotine catabolism, methylamine. In the presence of the proton-motive force inhibitors 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) or the proton ionophore nigericin, export of methylamine was inhibited and radioactivity accumulated inside the bacteria. Efflux of [(14)C]nicotine-derived radioactivity from bacteria was also inhibited in a pmfR : cmx strain with downregulated nepAB expression. Because of low amine oxidase levels in the pmfR : cmx strain, gamma-N-methylaminobutyrate, the methylamine precursor, accumulated. Complementation of this strain with the nepAB genes, carried on a plasmid, restored the efflux of nicotine breakdown products. Both NepA and NepB were required for full export activity, indicating that they form a two-component efflux pump. NepAB may function as a metabolic valve by exporting methylamine, the end product of nicotine catabolism, and, in conditions under which it accumulates, the intermediate gamma-N-methylaminobutyrate. | 2007 | 17464069 |
| 518 | 16 | 0.8917 | Bacitracin and nisin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus: a novel pathway involving the BraS/BraR two-component system (SA2417/SA2418) and both the BraD/BraE and VraD/VraE ABC transporters. Two-component systems (TCSs) are key regulatory pathways allowing bacteria to adapt their genetic expression to environmental changes. Bacitracin, a cyclic dodecylpeptide antibiotic, binds to undecaprenyl pyrophosphate, the lipid carrier for cell wall precursors, effectively inhibiting peptidoglycan biosynthesis. We have identified a novel and previously uncharacterized TCS in the major human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus that we show to be essential for bacitracin and nisin resistance: the BraS/BraR system (Bacitracin resistance associated; SA2417/SA2418). The braRS genes are located immediately upstream from genes encoding an ABC transporter, accordingly designated BraDE. We have shown that the BraSR/BraDE module is a key bacitracin and nisin resistance determinant in S. aureus. In the presence of low antibiotic concentrations, BraSR activate transcription of two operons encoding ABC transporters: braDE and vraDE. We identified a highly conserved imperfect palindromic sequence upstream from the braDE and vraDE promoter sequences, essential for their transcriptional activation by BraSR, suggesting it is the likely BraR binding site. We demonstrated that the two ABC transporters play distinct and original roles in antibiotic resistance: BraDE is involved in bacitracin sensing and signalling through BraSR, whereas VraDE acts specifically as a detoxification module and is sufficient to confer bacitracin and nisin resistance when produced on its own. We show that these processes require functional BraD and VraD nucleotide-binding domain proteins, and that the large extracellular loop of VraE confers its specificity in bacitracin resistance. This is the first example of a TCS associated with two ABC transporters playing separate roles in signal transduction and antibiotic resistance. | 2011 | 21696458 |
| 345 | 17 | 0.8916 | Genetic redundancy, proximity, and functionality of lspA, the target of antibiotic TA, in the Myxococcus xanthus producer strain. We recently showed that type II signal peptidase (SPaseII) encoded by lspA is the target of an antibiotic called TA (myxovirescin), which is made by Myxococcus xanthus. SPaseII cleaves the signal peptide during bacterial lipoprotein processing. Bacteria typically contain one lspA gene; however, strikingly, the M. xanthus DK1622 genome contains four (lspA1 to lspA4). Since two of these genes, lspA3 and lspA4, are located in the giant TA biosynthetic gene cluster, we hypothesized they may play a role in TA resistance. To investigate the functions of the four M. xanthus lspA (lspA(Mx)) genes, we conducted sequence comparisons and found that they contained nearly all the conserved residues characteristic of SPaseII family members. Genetic studies found that an Escherichia coli ΔlspA mutation could be complemented by any of the lspA(Mx) genes in an lpp mutant background, but not in an E. coli lpp(+) background. Because Lpp is the most abundant E. coli lipoprotein, these results suggest the M. xanthus proteins do not function as efficiently as the host enzyme. In E. coli, overexpression of each of the LspA(Mx) proteins conferred TA and globomycin resistance, although LspA3 conferred the highest degree of resistance. In M. xanthus, each lspA(Mx) gene could be deleted and was therefore dispensable for growth. However, lspA3 or lspA4 deletion mutants each exhibited a tan phase variation bias, which likely accounts for their reduced-swarming and delayed-development phenotypes. In summary, we propose that all four LspA(Mx) proteins function as SPaseIIs and that LspA3 and LspA4 might also have roles in TA resistance and regulation, respectively. | 2014 | 24391051 |
| 8745 | 18 | 0.8914 | Enhanced resistance to seed-transmitted bacterial diseases in transgenic rice plants overproducing an oat cell-wall-bound thionin. Bacterial attack is a serious agricultural problem for growth of rice seedlings in the nursery and field. The thionins purified from seed and etiolated seedlings of barley are known to have antimicrobial activity against necrotrophic pathogens; however, we found that no endogenous rice thionin genes alone are enough for resistance to two major seed-transmitted phytopathogenic bacteria, Burkholderia plantarii and B. glumae, although rice thionin genes constitutively expressed in coleoptile, the target organ of the bacteria. Thus, we isolated thionin genes from oat, one of which was overexpressed in rice. When wild-type rice seed were germinated with these bacteria, all seedlings were wilted with severe blight. In the seedling infected with B. plantarii, bacterial staining was intensively marked around stomata and intercellular spaces. However, transgenic rice seedlings accumulating a high level of oat thionin in cell walls grew almost normally with bacterial staining only on the surface of stomata. These results indicate that the oat thionin effectively works in rice plants against bacterial attack. | 2002 | 12059099 |
| 9991 | 19 | 0.8913 | A bifunctional dihydrofolate synthetase--folylpolyglutamate synthetase in Plasmodium falciparum identified by functional complementation in yeast and bacteria. Folate metabolism in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is an essential activity for cell growth and replication, and the target of an important class of therapeutic agents in widespread use. However, resistance to antifolate drugs is a major health problem in the developing world. To date, only two activities in this complex pathway have been targeted by antimalarials. To more fully understand the mechanisms of antifolate resistance and to identify promising targets for new chemotherapies, we have cloned genes encoding as yet uncharacterised enzymes in this pathway. By means of complementation experiments using 1-carbon metabolism mutants of both Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we demonstrate here that one of these parasite genes encodes both dihydrofolate synthetase (DHFS) and folylpolyglutamate synthetase (FPGS) activities, which catalyse the synthesis and polyglutamation of folate derivatives, respectively. The malaria parasite is the first known example of a eukaryote encoding both DHFS and FPGS activities in a single gene. DNA sequencing of this gene in antifolate-resistant strains of P. falciparum, as well as drug-inhibition assays performed on yeast and bacteria expressing PfDHFS--FPGS, indicate that current antifolate regimes do not target this enzyme. As PfDHFS--FPGS harbours two activities critical to folate metabolism, one of which has no human counterpart, this gene product offers a novel chemotherapeutic target with the potential to deliver a powerful blockage to parasite growth. | 2001 | 11223131 |