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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Kenn Gerdes
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Recent genomic analyses revealed a surprisingly large number of toxin-antitoxin loci in free-living prokaryotes. The antitoxins are proteins or antisense RNAs that counteract the toxins. Two antisense RNA-regulated toxin-antitoxin gene families, hok/sok and ldr, are unrelated sequence-wise but have strikingly similar properties at the level of gene and RNA organization. Recently, two SOS-induced toxins were found to be regulated by RNA antitoxins. One such toxin, SymE, exhibits similarity with MazE antitoxin and, surprisingly, inhibits translation. Thus, it is possible that an ancestral antitoxin gene evolved into the present toxin gene (symE) whose translation is repressed by an RNA antitoxin (SymR). © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Author(s): Gerdes K, Wagner EGH
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Current Opinion in Microbiology
Year: 2007
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Pages: 117-124
ISSN (print): 1369-5274
ISSN (electronic): 1879-0364
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2007.03.003
DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2007.03.003
PubMed id: 17376733
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