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“The textbook description of mitochondrial respiratory complexes (RCs) views them as free-moving entities linked GSK3326595 datasheet by the mobile carriers coenzyme Q (CoQ) and cytochrome c (cyt c). This model (known as the fluid model) is challenged by the proposal that all RCs except complex II can associate in supercomplexes (SCs). The proposed SCs are the respirasome (complexes I, III, and IV), complexes I and III, and complexes III and IV. The role of SCs is unclear, and their existence is debated. By genetic modulation of interactions between complexes I and
III and III and IV, we show that these associations define dedicated CoQ and cyt c pools and that SC assembly is dynamic and organizes electron flux to optimize the use of available substrates.”
“Porins are beta-barrel outer-membrane proteins through which small solutes and metabolites HDAC inhibitor diffuse that are also exploited during cell death. We have studied how the bacteriocin colicin E9 (ColE9) assembles a cytotoxic translocon at the surface of Escherichia coli that incorporates the trimeric porin OmpF. Formation of the translocon involved ColE9′s unstructured N-terminal domain threading in opposite directions through two OmpF
subunits, capturing its target TolB on the other side of the membrane in a fixed orientation that triggers colicin import. Thus, an intrinsically disordered protein can tunnel through the narrow pores of an oligomeric Selleckchem Ispinesib porin to deliver an epitope signal to the cell to initiate cell death.”
“Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler areas or sustain range losses; whether this is also true for microorganisms remains unknown. Through continental-scale compositional surveys of soil crust microbial communities across arid North America, we observed a latitudinal replacement in dominance between two key topsoil cyanobacteria that was driven largely by temperature. The responses to temperature of enrichment cultures and cultivated strains support this contention, with one cyanobacterium (Microcoleus vaginatus) being more psychrotolerant and
less thermotolerant than the other (M. steenstrupii). In view of our data and regional climate predictions, the latter cyanobacterium may replace the former in much of the studied area within the next few decades, with unknown ecological consequences for soil fertility and erodibility.”
“Gene expression in organisms involves many factors and is tightly controlled. Although much is known about the initial phase of transcription by RNA polymerase III (Pol III), the enzyme that synthesizes the majority of RNA molecules in eukaryotic cells, termination is poorly understood. Here, we show that the extensive structure of Pol III-synthesized transcripts dictates the release of elongation complexes at the end of genes.