biostudies-literatureUnknown9(4)Lipke PNBacterial and fungal adhesins mediate microbial aggregation, biofilm formation, and adhesion to host. We divide these proteins into two major classes: professional adhesins and moonlighting adhesins that have a non-adhesive activity that is evolutionarily conserved. A fundamental difference between the two classes is the dissociation rate. Whereas moonlighters, including cytoplasmic enzymes and chaperones, can bind with high affinity, they usually dissociate quickly. Professional adhesins often have unusually long dissociation rates: minutes or hours. Each adhesin has at least three activities: cell surface association, binding to a ligand or adhesive partner protein, and as a microbial surface pattern for host recognition. We briefly discuss <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> TasA, pilin adhesins, Journal of fungi (Basel, Switzerland)419https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10144551biostudies-literatureSticking to the Subject: Multifunctionality in Microbial Adhesins.PMC10144551Ragonis-Bachar PLipke PNfalseSticking to the Subject: Multifunctionality in Microbial Adhesins.Bacterial and fungal adhesins mediate microbial aggregation, biofilm formation, and adhesion to host. We divide these proteins into two major classes: professional adhesins and moonlighting adhesins that have a non-adhesive activity that is evolutionarily conserved. A fundamental difference between the two classes is the dissociation rate. Whereas moonlighters, including cytoplasmic enzymes and chaperones, can bind with high affinity, they usually dissociate quickly. Professional adhesins often have unusually long dissociation rates: minutes or hours. Each adhesin has at least three activities: cell surface association, binding to a ligand or adhesive partner protein, and as a microbial surface pattern for host recognition. We briefly discuss <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> TasA, pilin adhesins, 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Mar2025-04-04T21:13:48.496Z2024-11-20T02:05:32.142ZS-EPMC101445513710887310.3390/jof9040419