Molecular mechanisms of xenosiderophore and heme acquisitions using periplasmic binding protein (PBP) dependent ATP-binding cassette transporters to scavenge the essential nutrient iron are elusive yet in Vibrio cholerae. Our current study delineates the structures, dynamics and ligand binding properties of two Type III PBPs of V. cholerae, VcFhuD and VcHutB. Through crystal structures and fluo...

Pheromone binding proteins (PBPs) are small helical proteins ( approximately 13-17 kDa) present in several sensory organs from moth and other insect species. They are involved in the transport of pheromones from the sensillar lymph to the olfactory receptors. We report here the crystal structure of a PBP (Amel-ASP1) originating from the honey-bee (Apis mellifera) antennae and expressed as recom...

The bacterial actin homolog, MreB, forms helical cables within the cell that are required for maintenance of a rod shape. These helical structures are thought to be involved in the spatial organization of cell wall (peptidoglycan) synthesizing complexes of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). Here, we examined the role of the MreC cell shape protein in this process in Caulobacter crescentus. Sub...

Bacillus subtilis strains lacking penicillin-binding protein 1 (PBP1), encoded by ponA, required greater amounts of Mg2+ or Ca2+ for vegetative growth or spore outgrowth than the wild-type strain and strains lacking other high-molecular-weight (HMW) PBPs. Growth of ponA cells in a medium low in Mg2+ also resulted in greatly increased cell bending compared to wild-type cells or cells lacking oth...

Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs), biosynthetic enzymes of bacterial cell wall assembly, and beta-lactamases, resistance enzymes to beta-lactam antibiotics, are related to each other from an evolutionary point of view. Massova and Mobashery (Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 1998, 42, 1-17) have proposed that for beta-lactamases to have become effective at their function as antibiotic resistance e...

UNLABELLED Membrane proteins need to be properly inserted and folded in the membrane in order to perform a range of activities that are essential for the survival of bacteria. The Sec translocon and the YidC insertase are responsible for the insertion of the majority of proteins into the cytoplasmic membrane. YidC can act in combination with the Sec translocon in the insertion and folding of me...

Considering that the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria is largely increasing, a thorough understanding of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) is of great importance and crucial significance because this enzyme family is a main target of β-lactam-based antibiotics. In this work, combining biochemical and structural analysis, we present new findings that provide novel insights...

The bacterial LacI/GalR family repressors such as lactose operon repressor (LacI), purine nucleotide synthesis repressor (PurR), and trehalose operon repressor (TreR) consist of not only the N-terminal helix-turn-helix DNA-binding domain but also the C-terminal ligand-binding domain that is structurally homologous to periplasmic sugar-binding proteins. These structural features imply that the r...

Compartmentation of metabolic reactions and thus transport within and between cells can be understood only if we know subcellular distribution based on nondestructive dynamic monitoring. Currently, methods are not available for in vivo metabolite imaging at cellular or subcellular levels. Limited information derives from methods requiring fixation or fractionation of tissue (1, 2). We thus deve...