Microbiology

Formylation of Met-tRNAi in Prokaryotes, Understanding Evolution of Unnecessary

BACKGROUND: Nascent polypeptides bear the N-terminal Met residue, encoded by the AUG initiation codon. In bacteria and in eukaryotic organelles mitochondria and chloroplasts (remote descendants of bacteria), this Met is Nα-terminally formylated (N-formylated) through a “pretranslational” mechanism. Formyltransferase (FMT) uses 10‑formyltetrahydrofolate to formylate the α-amino group of the Met moiety in the initiator tRNAiMet. This […]

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Antibiotic Producing Bacteria; Self-resistance

The ultimate source of many of these genes is almost certainly the actinomycetes that make the antibiotics and therefore need self‐protective mechanisms to avoid suicide. How do they ensure that they are resistant at the time when intracellular antibiotic concentrations reach potentially lethal levels?   Antibiotics, as typical secondary metabolites, are usually not produced during

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