Pathogenicity islands (PAIs) represent distinct pieces of DNA that are present in the genomes of pathogenic bacteria but absent from the genomes of related nonpathogenic strains. They carry (often more than one) virulence genes and are linked to transfer RNA (tRNA) loci. In addition, they carry mobility genes and direct repeats at their ends and are often unstable [1]. The first PAIs have been ...

Some of the most therapeutically interesting natural products are mixed polyketide/nonribosomal peptide molecules, including bleomycin and epothilones (anticancer agents) and FK506 and rapamycin (immunosuppressive drugs).1-3 These enzymatically assembled molecules are encoded by multimodular protein arrays that, through their chain-ordering, determine the structure of the natural product elonga...

Yersiniabactin (Ybt), the siderophore produced by Yersinia pestis, has been crystallized successfully in the ferric complex form and the crystal structure has been determined. The crystals are orthorhombic with a space group of P2(1)2(1)2(1) and four distinct molecules per unit cell with cell dimensions of a=11.3271(+/-0.0003)A, b=22.3556(+/-0.0006)A, and c=39.8991(+/-0.0011)A. The crystal stru...