The autoinducer-2 exporter superfamily.

ABSTRACT: The TqsA (YdgG) protein of Escherichia coli has been shown to export the autoinducer-2 (AI-2) molecule, a furanosyl borate diester that bears little resemblance to previously characterized biological molecules. TqsA belongs to a large superfamily, the AI-2 exporter (AI-2E) superfamily, of putative transporters with no other functionally characterized members. These proteins derive exclusively from bacteria. Many different bacterial kingdoms contain them, although several kingdoms do not. These proteins exhibit a uniform topology with 8 putative transmembrane segments (TMSs) which we show probably arose from a 4-TMS precursor in a process that involved at least one and possibly two intragenic duplication event(s). The first halves of these proteins are more diverse in sequence than the seco

SUBMITTER: Rettner RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3004238 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature