Search results for "Molecular Biology and Physiology"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Unique Microbial Catabolic Pathway for the Human Core N-Glycan Constituent Fucosyl-α-1,6-N-Acetylglucosamine-Asparagine
2020
The survival of commensal bacteria in the human gut partially depends on their ability to metabolize host-derived molecules. The use of the glycosidic moiety of N-glycoproteins by bacteria has been reported, but the role of N-glycopeptides or glycoamino acids as the substrates for bacterial growth has not been evaluated. We have identified in Lactobacillus casei strain BL23 a gene cluster (alf-2) involved in the catabolism of the glycoamino acid fucosyl-α-1,6-N-GlcNAc-Asn (6′FN-Asn), a constituent of the core-fucosylated structures of mammalian N-glycoproteins. The cluster consists of the genes alfHC, encoding a major facilitator superfamily (MFS) permease and the α-l-fucosidase AlfC, and t…
The 5' Untranslated Region of the
2018
Many of the virulence traits that make Candida albicans an important human fungal pathogen are regulated on a transcriptional level. Here, we report an important regulatory contribution of translation, which is exerted by the extensive 5′ untranslated regulatory sequence (5′ UTR) of the transcript for the protein Efg1, which determines growth, metabolism, and filamentation in the fungus. The presence of the 5′ UTR is required for efficient translation of Efg1, to promote filamentation. Because transcripts for many relevant regulators contain extensive 5′ UTR sequences, it appears that the virulence of C. albicans depends on the combination of transcriptional and translational regulatory mec…
Deciphering the Rules Underlying Xenogeneic Silencing and Counter-Silencing of Lsr2-like Proteins Using CgpS of Corynebacterium glutamicum as a Model
2020
In actinobacteria, Lsr2-like nucleoid-associated proteins function as xenogeneic silencers (XS) of horizontally acquired genomic regions, including viral elements, virulence gene clusters in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and genes involved in cryptic specialized metabolism in Streptomyces species. Consequently, a detailed mechanistic understanding of Lsr2 binding in vivo is relevant as a potential drug target and for the identification of novel bioactive compounds. Here, we followed an in vivo approach to investigate the rules underlying xenogeneic silencing and counter-silencing of the Lsr2-like XS CgpS from Corynebacterium glutamicum. Our results demonstrated that CgpS distinguishes between…
RNAs That Behave Like Prions
2020
The term “prion” was originally coined to describe the proteinaceous infectious agents involved in mammalian neurological disorders. More recently, a prion has been defined as a nonchromosomal, protein-based genetic element that is capable of converting the copies of its own benign variant into the prion form, with the new phenotypic effects that can be transmitted through the cytoplasm. Some prions are toxic to the cell, are able to aggregate and/or form amyloid structures, and may be infectious in the wild, but none of those traits are seen as an integral property of all prions. We propose that the definition of prion should be expanded, to include the inducible transmissible entities und…