The conjugative multiple antibiotic resistance plasmid pIP501 can be transferred and stably maintained in a variety of Gram-positive genera, including multicellular Streptomyces lividans, as well as in Gram-negative Escherichia coli. The 15 putative pIP501 transfer (tra) genes are organized in an operon-like structure terminating in a strong transcriptional terminator. This paper reports co-tra...

Conjugative transfer of the Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pPD1 is activated by cPD1, one of several peptide sex pheromones secreted by plasmid-free recipient cells, and is blocked by a donor-produced peptide inhibitor, iPD1. Using a tritiated pheromone, [3H]cPD1, we investigated how pPD1-harboring donor cells receive these peptide signals. Donor cells rapidly incorporated [3H]cPD1. The cell ext...

We consider the problem of polling web pages as a strategy for monitoring the world wide web. The problem consists of repeatedly polling a selection of web pages so that changes that occur over time are detected. In particular, we consider the case where we are constrained to poll a maximum number of web pages per unit of time, and this constraint is typically dictated by the governing communic...

Previous studies have implicated the obligatory requirement for the vir regulon (or "virulon") of the Ti plasmid for the transfer of oncogenes from Agrobacterium tumefaciens to plant cells. The machinery used in this horizontal gene transfer has been long thought to be a transformation or conjugative delivery system. Based on recent protein sequence comparisons, the proteins encoded by the virB...

Myxobacteria exhibit complex social traits during which large populations of cells coordinate their behaviors. An iconic example is their response to starvation: thousands of cells move by gliding motility to build a fruiting body in which vegetative cells differentiate into spores. Here we review mechanisms that the model species Myxococcus xanthus uses for cell-cell interactions, with a focus...

Myxobacteria are known for complex social behaviors including outer membrane exchange (OME), in which cells exchange large amounts of outer membrane lipids and proteins upon contact. The TraA cell surface receptor selects OME partners based on a variable domain. However, traA polymorphism alone is not sufficient to precisely discriminate kin. Here, we report a novel family of OME-delivered toxi...

The pheromone-responding conjugative bacteriocin plasmid pPD1 (59 kb) of Enterococcus faecalis was mapped physically by using a relational clone approach, and transposon analysis with Tn917 (Emr) or Tn916 (Tcr) facilitated the location of the bacteriocin-related genes in a segment of about 6.7 kb. Tn917 insertions within a 3-kb region resulted in constitutive clumping. The nucleotide sequence o...

pAM373 is a 36.7 kb conjugative plasmid in Enterococcus faecalis that encodes a response to a peptide sex pheromone, cAM373, secreted by plasmid-free (recipient) strains of enterococci. It was identified over 15 years ago as one of five plasmids in E. faecalis strain RC73 and was of interest because a related pheromone activity could be detected in culture supernatants of Staphylococcus aureus ...

Bacteria and virulent bacteriophages are in a prey-predator relationship. Experimental models under simplified conditions with the presence of bacteria and bacteriophages have been used to elucidate the mechanisms that have enabled both prey and predator to coexist over long periods. In experimental coevolution conducted with Escherichia coli and the virulent RNA bacteriophage Qβ in serial tran...

سپیدایی از ﭘﺎراﻣﺘﺮﻫﺎی ﻣﻮرد ﻧﻴﺎز در ﻣﻄﺎﻟﻌﺎت زﻳﺴﺖ‌ﻣﺤﻴﻄﻲ و آب‌و‌ﻫﻮاﻳﻲ به‌شمار می‌رود؛ ازاین‌رو، بررسی رفتار زمانی مکانی آن می‌تواند ابزاری برای شناخت تغییرات محیطی باشد. ﺳﻨﺠﻨﺪة مودیس ﺳﻄﺢ زﻣﻴﻦ را به‌طور ﻣﺴﺘﻤﺮ، ﻣﻘﻴﺎﺳﻲ ﺟﻬﺎﻧﻲ ﺑﺎ ﻗﺪرت ﺗﻔﻜﻴﻚ ﻣﻜﺎﻧﻲ مناسب ﺗﻮﻟﻴﺪ دسترس پژوهشگران ﻗﺮار داده است. این پژوهش، واکاوی موانع برداشت/ دیدبانی ایران‌زمین، نخست داده‌های روزانة سنجندة محدودة ایران، بازة 1/1/1379 تا 10/1...