The first step in programming and controlling cell behavior is to establish a library of well-defined components, a.k.a. "biobricks", that serve as the building blocks of artificial gene networks. The main challenge in genetic circuit design lies in selecting well-matched genetic components that when coupled, reliably and consistently act in a desired behavior. Although the parameter values are...

Cohesion between sister chromatids is essential for faithful chromosome segregation. In budding yeast, the acetyltransferase Eco1/Ctf7 establishes cohesion during DNA replication in S phase and in response to DNA double strand breaks in G2/M phase. In humans two Eco1 orthologs exist: ESCO1 and ESCO2. Both proteins are required for proper sister chromatid cohesion, but their exact function is un...

Chlamydiae are eubacteria that are currently separated into four species: Chlamydia psittaci and Chlamydia pecorum, which are important animal pathogens, and Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia pneumoniae, which are significant agents of sexually transmitted, ocular, respiratory, and other infections in humans. Chlamydiae possess several intriguing features that are unique among eubacteria. One...

BACKGROUND Chlamydia trachomatis is a major human pathogen with a unique obligate intracellular developmental cycle that takes place inside a modified cytoplasmic structure known as an inclusion. Following entry into a cell, the infectious elementary body (EB) differentiates into a non-infectious replicative form known as a reticulate body (RB). RBs divide by binary fission and at the end of th...

Aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the Rose Bengal score test for Sjøgren's syndrome (SS), and to explore differences between other tests and examinations. All participants were examined, including (but not limited to) unstimulated (UWS) and stimulated (SWS) whole saliva, labial gland biopsy (LGB or focus score), ophthalmologic questionnaire (ocular surface disease i...

All clinical isolates of group B Streptococcus (GBS; Streptococcus agalactiae) are considered uniformly susceptible to β-lactams, including penicillins. However, GBS with reduced penicillin susceptibility (PRGBS) were first identified by our group in Japan and have also been reported from North America. PRGBS are non-susceptible to penicillin because of acquisition of amino acid substitutions n...

During RNA synthesis in the ternary elongation complex, RNA polymerase enzyme holds nucleic acids in three contiguous sites: the double-stranded DNA-binding site (DBS) ahead of the transcription bubble, the RNA-DNA heteroduplex-binding site (HBS), and the RNA-binding site (RBS) upstream of HBS. Photochemical cross-linking allowed mapping of the DNA and RNA contacts to specific positions on the ...

Accurate prediction of the position of translation initiation (N-terminal prediction) is a difficult problem. N-terminal prediction from DNA sequence alone is ambiguous is several candidate start sites are close to each other. Protein similarity search is usually unable to indicate the true start of a gene as it would require a strong protein sequence similarity at the N-terminal portion of a p...