Tying rings for sex.

Markus Kalkum, Ralf Eisenbrandt, Rudi Lurz, Erich Lanka

Journal: Trends in microbiology 2002;10(8):382-7

PMID: 12160637

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

The primary component of the sex pilus encoded by IncP (RP4) and Ti plasmids has been identified as a circular pilin protein with a peptide bond between the amino and carboxyl terminus. Here, we review the key experiments that led to this discovery, and the present mechanistic model for pilin-precursor processing and the cyclization reaction. In addition, we discuss the implications for horizontal gene transfer in bacterial conjugation.

Address: Department of Mass Spectrometry and Gaseous Ion Chemistry, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021-6399, USA.

DOI: 10.1016/s0966-842x(02)02399-5

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MeSH Terms: Amino Acid Sequence, Bacterial Proteins, Conjugation, Genetic, Fimbriae Proteins, Membrane Proteins, Molecular Sequence Data, Periplasmic Proteins, Pili, Sex, Plasmids