Molecular Biology and Physiology
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMitochondrial Voltage-Dependent Anion Channel Protein Por1 Positively Regulates the Nuclear Localization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae AMP-Activated Protein KinaseAMP-activated protein kinases (AMPKs) sense energy limitation and regulate transcription and metabolism in eukaryotes from yeast to humans. In mammals, AMPK responds to increased AMP-to-ATP or ADP-to-ATP ratios and is implicated in diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Mitochondria produce ATP and are generally thought to downregulate AMPK. Indeed, some antidiabetic drugs activate AMPK by affecting mitochondrial respiration. ATP release...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyThe Small RNA ncS35 Regulates Growth in Burkholderia cenocepacia J2315Small RNAs play an important role in the survival of bacteria in diverse environments. We explored the physiological role of ncS35, a small RNA expressed in B. cenocepacia J2315, an opportunistic pathogen in cystic fibrosis patients. In cystic fibrosis patients, infections can lead to “cepacia syndrome,” a rapidly progressing and often fatal pneumonia. Infections with...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyNuclear, Cytosolic, and Surface-Localized Poly(A)-Binding Proteins of Plasmodium yoeliiMalaria remains one of the great global health problems. The parasite that causes malaria (Plasmodium genus) relies upon exquisite control of its transmission between vertebrate hosts and mosquitoes. One crucial way that it does so is by proactively producing mRNAs needed to establish the new infection but by silencing and storing them until they are needed. One key protein in this process of translational repression in model...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyEvidence that the Plasmodium falciparum Protein Sortilin Potentially Acts as an Escorter for the Trafficking of the Rhoptry-Associated Membrane Antigen to the RhoptriesThe malaria parasite is a massive burden in several parts of the world. Worryingly, the parasite has become resistant to several of the drugs commonly used to treat the disease, and at this time, there is no commercial vaccine. It is therefore critical to identify new targets for the development of antimalarials. To survive in the human body, the malaria parasite needs to invade red blood cells. For this, it uses a variety of effectors...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPut3 Positively Regulates Proline Utilization in Candida albicansCandida albicans poses a significant threat to the lives of immunocompromised people. Historically, knowledge has been drawn from studies on Saccharomyces cerevisiae to understand the pathogen, and many Candida albicans genes are...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCRISPR-Cas-Mediated Gene Silencing Reveals RacR To Be a Negative Regulator of YdaS and YdaT Toxins in Escherichia coli K-12racR is an essential gene and one of the many poorly studied genes found on the rac prophage element that is present in many Escherichia coli genomes. Employing a CRISPR-based approach, we have silenced racR expression to various levels and elucidated its physiological consequences. We show that the downregulation of racR leads to...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyRepression of YdaS Toxin Is Mediated by Transcriptional Repressor RacR in the Cryptic rac Prophage of Escherichia coli K-12Transcription factors in the bacterium E. coli are rarely essential, and when they are essential, they are largely toxin-antitoxin systems. While studying transcription factors encoded in horizontally acquired regions in E. coli, we realized that the protein RacR, a putative transcription factor...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Simple and Universal System for Gene Manipulation in Aspergillus fumigatus: In Vitro-Assembled Cas9-Guide RNA Ribonucleoproteins Coupled with Microhomology Repair TemplatesTackling the multifactorial nature of virulence and antifungal drug resistance in A. fumigatus requires the mechanistic interrogation of a multitude of genes, sometimes across multiple genetic backgrounds. Classical fungal gene replacement systems can be laborious and time-consuming and, in wild-type isolates, are impeded by low rates of homologous recombination. Our...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyChromosomal Targeting by the Type III-A CRISPR-Cas System Can Reshape Genomes in Staphylococcus aureusStaphylococcus aureus is a pathogen that can cause a wide range of infections in humans. Studies have suggested that CRISPR-Cas systems can drive the loss of integrated mobile genetic elements (MGEs) by chromosomal targeting. Here we demonstrate that CRISPR-mediated cleavage contributes to the partial deletion of integrated SCCmec in methicillin-resistant...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMultidrug-Resistant Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Isolates Are Resistant to Antibiotics That Influence Their Swimming and Swarming MotilitySalmonella is one of the most common causes of bacterial foodborne infections in the United States, and the Centers for Disease Control consider multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella a “Serious Threat Level pathogen.” Because MDR Salmonella can lead to more severe disease in patients than that caused by antibiotic-sensitive strains, it is important to identify the role that antibiotics may play in enhancing...