Mounting global responses to dynamic environmental conditions is a crucial function that bacterial cells must perform. Global regulatory networks are most often studied in individual species, however,...

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans...

Staphylococcus aureus divides along sequential orthogonal planes, but the function of this geometry has remained unclear. Ramos-León et al. show that orthogonal division promotes uniform deployment of...

The John Innes Centre (JIC) seeks a creative junior or established researcher to set up and lead an internationally excellent, independent research programme in fundamental plant biology relevant to...

Staphylococcus aureus divides along sequential orthogonal planes, but the function of this geometry has remained unclear. Ramos-León et al. show that orthogonal division promotes uniform deployment of...

Precise regulation of gene expression ensures gene products are produced at the right time and in the right amounts. Recent works uncovered a new mechanism of bacterial gene regulation based on a clamp sliding and locking in a multi-drug resistance plasmid, RK2. KorB functions as a CTP-dependent DNA-sliding clamp capable of traveling over a long genomic distance. Sliding KorB is captured and locked in place by a partner protein, KorA, forming a stable complex at target promoters to repress transcription. Here, we show that another RK2 regulator, TrbA, also uses this clamp sliding-locking mechanism, and identify an aromatic interface enabling TrbA-KorB-mediated transcriptional repression. Our findings show how a single sliding clamp integrates multiple partners to build a complex transcriptional regulatory network.

Mounting global responses to dynamic environmental conditions is a crucial function that bacterial cells must perform. Global regulatory networks are most often studied in individual species, however,...

Systematic analysis of prokaryotic STAND NTPases — relatives of animal and plant immune receptors — uncovers diverse antiviral sensors that detect most of the core structural and replicative proteins of bacteriophages.

Bacteria produce natural products to adapt to their environments, with phage interactions as major ecological and evolutionary drivers. While some nat…

Shomar, Guillaume, et al. report the genomics-driven discovery of a family of more than 2,000 lanthipeptide biosynthetic gene clusters with anti-phage potential. They experimentally demonstrate anti-p...

Most archaea rely on the tubulin-like protein FtsZ for division. In the last decade, several novel cell division proteins have been discovered in the model haloarchaeon Haloferax volcanii which contai...

Institut Pasteur and the CNRS are launching a joint call for a mid-career group leader position in Medicinal Chemistry and Chemistry for Health. We are looking for an experienced researcher (typically...

A specific isoform of PBP1b functions independently of the activator protein, LpoB, to drive generation of a wedge-like peptidoglycan structure that strengthens the division site in Escherichia coli.

The evolutionary emergence of complex multicellularity in bacteria and fungi, such as the ability for mycelial growth, is strongly associated with increased genomic carriage of biosynthetic machinery ...

In Streptomyces spp., a conserved biosynthetic gene megacluster produces an arsenal of distinct antimicrobials that converge on bacterial biotin biosynthesis as a naturally evolved combination therapy...

The cell wall peptidoglycan (PG) protects virtually all bacteria from osmotic lysis and specifies cell shape. Synthesis of this exoskeleton is carr...

Deep learning reveals that prion-related proteins contain hidden ‘prionin’ peptides with antibacterial activity, including two candidates that reduced infections in mice.

The activation of an antiphage defence system relies on host factors targeted by phages, a mechanism analogous to the way that eukaryotic innate immune systems detect pathogen-induced perturbations of...

Dynamic relocalization of MinD in Bacillus subtilis arises from membrane binding of monomers and dimers with membrane-triggered ATP hydrolysis, suggesting MinE-like activators are unnecessary for Min ...

Abstract. Low-copy-number plasmids often rely on dedicated maintenance mechanisms, such as partitioning systems, to ensure stable inheritance across genera