Functional Studies of Five Toxin-Antitoxin Modules in Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv.

ABSTRACT: Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems, which consist of an intracellular toxin and its antidote (antitoxin), are encoded by ubiquitous genetic modules in prokaryotes. Commonly, the activity of a toxin is inhibited by its antitoxin under normal growth conditions. However, antitoxins are degraded in response to environmental stress, and toxins liberated from antitoxins consequently induce cell death or growth arrest. In free-living prokaryotes, TA systems are often present in large numbers and are considered to be associated with the adaptation of pathogenic bacteria or extremophiles to various unfavorable environments by shifting cells to a slow growth rate. Genomic analysis of the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (Mtb) revealed the presence of a large number of TA syste

SUBMITTER: Kim Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5175181 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature