Thermotoga maritima invertase (beta-fructosidase), a member of the glycoside hydrolase family GH-32, readily releases beta-D-fructose from sucrose, raffinose and fructan polymers such as inulin. These carbohydrates represent major carbon and energy sources for prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The invertase cleaves beta-fructopyranosidic linkages by a double-displacement mechanism, which involves a n...

Beta vulgaris genus comprises wild and cultivated subspecies. The “maritima” subspecies is formed by wild or weedy accessions, well adapted to low-water potential environments; it was previously shown that B. vulgaris ssp. maritima has mechanisms of osmotic adjustment more effective than the cultivated B. vulgaris ssp. vulgaris. The response to a progressive lowering of soil potential was compa...

Understanding the factors that contribute to population genetic divergence across a species' range is a long-standing goal in evolutionary biology and ecological genetics. We examined the relative importance of historical and ecological features in shaping the present-day spatial patterns of genetic structure in two related plant species, Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima and Beta macrocarpa. Using...

An improved purification procedure for Thermotoga maritima RNA-polymerase holoenzyme was developed. The enzyme is highly active with poly dAT or T7 phage DNA as template. DNA gyrase was found to be a side product of this RNA-polymerase purification. The genes for the large subunits beta and beta' of RNA-polymerase were cloned and sequenced. The phylogenetic position of T.maritima within the bac...

The cellular localization and processing of the endo-xylanases (1,4-beta-D-xylan-xylanohydrolase; EC 3.2.1.8) of the hyperthermophile Thermotoga maritima were investigated, in particular with respect to the unusual outer membrane ("toga") of this gram-negative bacterium. XynB (40 kDa) was detected in the periplasmic fraction of T. maritima cells and in the culture supernatant. XynA (120 kDa) wa...

A 5789-nucleotide-long EcoRI fragment from the genome of Thermotoga maritima, identified by cross-hybridization to L11, L1, L10, and L12 ribosomal protein gene sequences from Escherichia coli, was cloned and sequenced. The fragment encodes five tRNAs (tRNA(met1), anticodon complementary to AUG; tRNA(met2), AUG; tRNA(thr), ACA; tRNA(tyr), UAC; tRNA(trp), UGG), the transcription termination-antit...

Historical demographic processes and mating systems are believed to be major factors in the shaping of the intraspecies genetic diversity of plants. Among Caryophyllales, the Beta section of the genus Beta, within the Amaranthaceae/Chenopodiaceae alliance, is an interesting study model with species and subspecies (Beta macrocarpa, Beta patula, Beta vulgaris maritima and B.v. adanensis) differin...