A large non-coding RNA, termed α-Fur, of ~1000 nt has been detected in the extreme acidophile Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans encoded on the antisense strand to the iron-responsive master regulator fur (ferric uptake regulator) gene. A promoter for α-fur was predicted bioinformatically and validated using gene fusion experiments. The promoter is situated within the coding region and in the same ...

In order to identify genes belonging to the Fur regulon of Salmonella typhimurium, a bank of 10,000 independent S. typhimurium MudJ insertion mutants was screened for lacZ fusions regulated by the iron response regulator Fur. In parallel, a plasmid gene bank of S. typhimurium consisting of 10,000 independent clones was screened for Fur-regulated promoters or iron binding proteins by the Fur tit...

Temperate and boreal mammals undergo seasonal changes in pelage that facilitate thermoregulation in winter and summer. We investigated photoperiodic influences on pelage characteristics of male Siberian and Syrian hamsters. Fur density (mg fur/cm2 skin) was measured by weighing the shavings of fur patches removed from the dorsal and ventral surfaces of hamsters maintained in long days (LDs) or ...

Iron is an essential element for the survival of living cells. However, excess iron is toxic, and its uptake is exquisitely regulated by the ferric uptake regulator, Fur. In Salmonella, the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1) encodes a type three secretion system, which is required for invasion of host epithelial cells in the small intestine. A major activator of SPI-1 is HilA, which is e...

Rendering fur is an important area of computer graphics, because visually convincing fur is essential for realism of games and computer generated imagery. Our paper presents a novel technique for fur rendering based on a previously published method for grass rendering. The technique works by tracing a ray at each pixel through the fur volume with implicitly defined slices mapped with fur textur...

The ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein has been shown to function as a repressor of transcription in a number of diverse microorganisms. However, recent studies have established that Fur can function at a global level as both an activator and a repressor of transcription through both direct and indirect mechanisms. Fur-mediated indirect activation occurs via the repression of additional repr...

The microaerophilic gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori is exposed to oxidative stress originating from the aerobic environment, the oxidative burst of phagocytes and the formation of reactive oxygen species, catalyzed by iron excess. Accordingly, the expression of genes involved in oxidative stress defense have been repeatedly linked to the ferric uptake regulator Fur. Moreover, mutations in ...

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is an oral pathogen that causes aggressive periodontitis as well as sometimes life-threatening, extra-oral infections. Iron regulation is thought to be important in the pathogenesis of A. actinomycetemcomitans infections and, consistent with this hypothesis, the fur gene has recently been identified and characterized in A. actinomycetemcomitans. In this stud...

Carnivora includes three independent evolutionary transitions to the marine environment: pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses), sea otters, and polar bears. All three lineages must contend with the thermal challenges of submersion in the marine environment. In the present study, we investigated changes in the fur associated with the transition from a terrestrial to an aquatic lifestyle, co...

The ferric uptake regulatory protein, Fur, functions as a global regulatory protein of gene transcription in the mucosal pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae. We have shown previously that several N. gonorrhoeae Fur-repressed genes are expressed in vivo during mucosal gonococcal infection in men, which suggests that this organism infects in an iron-limited environment and that Fur is expressed under ...