Molecular Biology and Physiology
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyGlucose Signaling Is Important for Nutrient Adaptation during Differentiation of Pleomorphic African TrypanosomesAs the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei completes its life cycle, it encounters many different environments. Adaptation to these environments includes modulation of metabolic pathways to parallel the availability of nutrients. Here, we describe how the blood-dwelling life cycle stages of the African trypanosome, which consume glucose to meet their nutritional...
Commentary | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyNovel Observations Concerning Differentiation of Bloodstream-Form Trypanosomes to the Form That Is Adapted for Growth in Tsetse FliesSalivarian trypanosomes grow in mammals, where they depend on glucose, and as procyclic forms in tsetse flies, where they metabolize proline. Differentiation of bloodstream forms to nongrowing stumpy forms, and to procyclic forms, has been studied extensively, but reconciling the results is tricky because investigators have used parasites with various differentiation competences and different media for procyclic-form culture.
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Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyFunctional Mapping of Transcription Factor Grf10 That Regulates Adenine-Responsive and Filamentation Genes in Candida albicansMetabolic adaptation and morphogenesis are essential for Candida albicans, a major human fungal pathogen, to survive and infect diverse body sites in the mammalian host. C. albicans utilizes transcription factors to tightly control the transcription of metabolic genes and morphogenesis genes. Grf10...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyHigh Osmolarity Modulates Bacterial Cell Size through Reducing Initiation Volume in Escherichia coliBacterial cell size depends on growth rate, cell cycle progression, and the cell volume per origin upon initiating chromosome replication (initiation volume). Here, we perform the first systematic and quantitative study of the effect of hyperosmotic stress on the E. coli cell size and cell cycle. We find that hyperosmotic stress significantly reduces the initiation...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyHog1 Regulates Stress Tolerance and Virulence in the Emerging Fungal Pathogen Candida aurisThe rapid global emergence and resistance of Candida auris to current antifungal drugs highlight the importance of understanding the virulence traits exploited by this human fungal pathogen to cause disease. Here, we characterize the stress resistance profile of...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyNewly Identified Nucleoid-Associated-Like Protein YlxR Regulates Metabolic Gene Expression in Bacillus subtilisExpression of genes encoding NAPs is often temporally regulated. According to results from single-cell analysis, the ylxR gene is induced by glucose and expressed in a bistable mode. These characteristics have not previously been reported for NAP gene expression. Transcriptional profiling of the ylxR disruptant revealed a change in the expression levels of approximately 400 genes, including genes for synthesis of 12...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPhenotypic Variation in the Group A Streptococcus Due to Natural Mutation of the Accessory Protein-Encoding Gene rocAThis study investigates the regulatory and phenotypic consequences of a naturally occurring mutation in a strain of the bacterial pathogen the group A Streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes). We show that this mutation, which occurs in a regulator-encoding gene, rocA, leads to altered virulence factor expression and reduces the ability of this isolate...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPathways of Pathogenicity: Transcriptional Stages of Germination in the Fatal Fungal Pathogen Rhizopus delemarGermination is key to the growth of many organisms, including fungal spores. Mucormycete spores exist abundantly within the environment and germinate to form hyphae. These spores are capable of infecting immunocompromised individuals, causing the disease mucormycosis. Germination from spore to hyphae within patients leads to angioinvasion, tissue necrosis, and often fatal infections. This study advances our understanding of how spore...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMinicells as a Damage Disposal Mechanism in Escherichia coliBacteria have the ability to produce minicells, or small spherical versions of themselves that lack chromosomal DNA and are unable to replicate. A minicell can constitute as much as 20% of the cell’s volume. Although molecular biology and biotechnology have used minicells as laboratory tools for several decades, it is still puzzling that bacteria should produce such costly but potentially nonfunctional structures. Here, we show that...
Resource Report | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA High-Throughput Candida albicans Two-Hybrid SystemCandida albicans is a major fungal pathogen, and due to the rise of fungal infections and emerging resistance to the limited antifungals available, it is important to develop novel and more specific antifungals. Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) can be applied as very specific drug targets. However, because of the aberrant codon usage of...