A mutation in Aspergillus nidulans led to a loss of both melanin and ca-(1,3)glucan, a major wall polysaccharide. In addition, the mutation prevented the formation of cleistothecia. Mutant walls contained increased amounts of ,B(1,3)-glucan and galactose polymers, and electron micrographs indicated that they had lost the outermost wall layer. Such walls were more readily digested by lytic enzym...

ABSTRACT Ulocladium atrum (strain 385) consistently reduced Botrytis cinerea sporulation on necrotic fragments of strawberry leaves. On these tissues, two strains of U. atrum (isolates 18558 and 18559) showed lower antagonistic activities than the reference strain 385. Colonization of strawberry leaflets by the three U. atrum strains appeared similar in the absence of B. cinerea, whether quanti...

MreB, the bacterial actin homologue, plays a vital role in determining cell shape, but the mechanisms by which it actually functions have remained largely mysterious. Recent studies now shed new light on MreB, demonstrating that it associates with many cell-wall synthesis enzymes, including a newly identified family of proteins that mediate teichoic acid synthesis in Gram-positive bacteria. Fur...

Most of the bacteria producing peptide antibiotics are aerobic sporeformers. The relation between the two processes (spore formation and peptide production) has been suggested by several investigators (R. W. Bernlohr and G. D. Novelli, Nature 184:1256, 1959; Balassa et al., Compt. Rend. 257:986, 1963). D-Amino acids, which are characteristic constituents of the peptide antibiotics, have been sh...

Bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan is a dynamic structure requiring hydrolysis to allow cell wall growth and division. Staphylococcus aureus has many known and putative peptidoglycan hydrolases, including two likely lytic transglycosylases. These two proteins, IsaA and SceD, were both found to have autolytic activity. Regulatory studies showed that the isaA and sceD genes are partially mutually ...

Cell wall proteins with sialidase activity are involved in carbohydrate assimilation, adhesion to mucosal surfaces, and biofilm formation. Gardnerella spp. inhabit the human vaginal microbiome encode up three enzymes, two of which suspected be cell associated. Here, we demonstrate that gene encoding extracellular NanH3 is found almost exclusively piotii closely related species genome sp. 3, its...