Protein aggregation is a consequence of the dormancy-inducing membrane toxin TisB in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial dormancy is a valuable strategy to survive stressful conditions. Toxins from chromosomal toxin-antitoxin systems have the potential to halt cell growth, induce dormancy, and eventually promote a stress-tolerant persister state. Due to their potential toxicity when overexpressed, sophisticated expression systems are needed when studying toxin genes. Here, we present a moderate expression system for toxin genes based on an artificial 5' untranslated region. We applied the system to induce expression of the toxin gene tisB from the chromosomal type I toxin-antitoxin system tisB/istR-1 in Escherichia coli. TisB is a small hydrophobic protein that targets the inner membrane, resulting in depolarization and ATP depletion. We analyzed TisB-producing cells by RNA-seq

SUBMITTER: Leinberger FH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11575346 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature