The Bacterial Cell Envelope

The bacterial cell envelope.

Aminoacyl-tRNAs, the bacterial cell envelope, and antibiotics.

A s adaptor molecules linking the codons in a mRNA to the amino acids that they specify, aminoacyl-tRNAs (AAtRNAs) play a central role in protein biosynthesis. In addition to this critical role, AA-tRNAs are also involved in several other less well known but still important biochemical reactions (Fig. 1). For example, AA-tRNAs are used as substrates for transfer of a single amino acid to the N ...

Cytoplasmic membrane iron permease systems in the bacterial cell envelope.

Iron is a vital nutrient for the vast majority of organisms. Gram-positive bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and archaea established different strategies to utilize iron from various sources. This article concentrates on the cytoplasmic membrane-associated uptake systems involved in the acquisition of iron. Genetic, biochemical and structural data as well as computational analyses were taken int...

Mutations That Alter the Bacterial Cell Envelope Increase Lipid Production

Lipids from microbes offer a promising source of renewable alternatives to petroleum-derived compounds. In particular, oleaginous microbes are of interest because they accumulate a large fraction of their biomass as lipids. In this study, we analyzed genetic changes that alter lipid accumulation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides By screening an R. sphaeroides Tn5 mutant library for insertions that inc...

Elucidating Duramycin’s Bacterial Selectivity and Mode of Action on the Bacterial Cell Envelope

The use of naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides provides a promising route to selectively target pathogenic agents and to shape microbiome structure. Lantibiotics, such as duramycin, are one class of bacterially produced peptidic natural products that can selectively inhibit the growth of other bacteria. However, despite longstanding characterization efforts, the microbial selectivity and...