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Aeropyrum Coil-shaped Virus
''Spiraviridae'' is a family of viruses that replicate in hyperthermophilic archaea of the genus '' Aeropyrum'', specifically '' Aeropyrum pernix''. The family contains one genus, ''Alphaspiravirus'', which contains one species, ''Aeropyrum coil-shaped virus''. The virions of Aeropyrum coil-shaped virus (ACV) are non-enveloped and in the shape of hollow cylinders that are formed by a coiling fiber that consists of two intertwining halves of the circular DNA strand inside a capsid. An appendage protrudes from each end of the cylindrical virion. The viral genome is positive-sense, single-stranded DNA ((+)ssDNA) and encodes for significantly more genes than other known ssDNA viruses. ACV is also unique in that it appears to lack its own enzymes to aid replication, instead likely using the host cell's replisomes. ACV has no known relation to any other archaea-infecting viruses, but it does share its coil-like morphology with some other archaeal viruses, suggesting that such viruses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898,Dimmock p. 4 more than 9,000 virus species have been described in detail of the millions of types of viruses in the environment. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity. The study of viruses is known as virology, a subspeciality of microbiology. When infected, a host cell is often forced to rapidly produce thousands of copies of the original virus. When not inside an infected cell or in the process of infecting a cell, viruses exist in the form of independent particles, or ''virions'', consisting of (i) the genetic material, i. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Directionality (molecular Biology)
Directionality, in molecular biology and biochemistry, is the end-to-end chemical orientation of a single strand of nucleic acid. In a single strand of DNA or RNA, the chemical convention of naming carbon atoms in the nucleotide pentose-sugar-ring means that there will be a 5′ end (usually pronounced "five-prime end"), which frequently contains a phosphate group attached to the 5′ carbon of the ribose ring, and a 3′ end (usually pronounced "three-prime end"), which typically is unmodified from the ribose -OH substituent. In a DNA double helix, the strands run in opposite directions to permit base pairing between them, which is essential for replication or transcription of the encoded information. Nucleic acids can only be synthesized in vivo in the 5′-to-3′ direction, as the polymerases that assemble various types of new strands generally rely on the energy produced by breaking nucleoside triphosphate bonds to attach new nucleoside monophosphates to the 3′- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Committee On Taxonomy Of Viruses
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) authorizes and organizes the taxonomic classification of and the nomenclatures for viruses. The ICTV has developed a universal taxonomic scheme for viruses, and thus has the means to appropriately describe, name, and classify every virus that affects living organisms. The members of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses are considered expert virologists. The ICTV was formed from and is governed by the Virology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies. Detailed work, such as delimiting the boundaries of species within a family, typically is performed by study groups of experts in the families. History The International Committee on Nomenclature of Viruses (ICNV) was established in 1966, at the International Congress for Microbiology in Moscow, to standardize the naming of viruses. The ICVN published its first report in 1971. For viruses infecting vertebrates, the first report included ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeropyrum Camini
In taxonomy, ''Aeropyrum'' is a genus of the Desulfurococcaceae. Etymology The name ''Aeropyrum'' derives from:Greek noun ''aer, aeros (ἀήρ, ἀέρος)'', air; Greek neuter gender noun ''pur'', fire; New Latin neuter gender noun ''Aeropyrum'', air fire, referring to the hyperthermophilic respirative character of the organism. Species The genus contains 2 species (including basonyms and synonyms), namely * '' A. camini'' ( Nakagawa ''et al.'' 2004, ; Latin genitive case noun ''camini'', of a chimney, relating to its isolation from a hydrothermal vent chimney.) * '' A. pernix'' ( Sako ''et al.'' 1996, (Type species of the genus).; Latin neuter gender adjective ''pernix'', nimble, active, agile, indicating high motility in microscopic inspection.) See also * Bacterial taxonomy * Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lysis
Lysis ( ) is the breaking down of the membrane of a cell, often by viral, enzymic, or osmotic (that is, "lytic" ) mechanisms that compromise its integrity. A fluid containing the contents of lysed cells is called a ''lysate''. In molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology laboratories, cell cultures may be subjected to lysis in the process of purifying their components, as in protein purification, DNA extraction, RNA extraction, or in purifying organelles. Many species of bacteria are subject to lysis by the enzyme lysozyme, found in animal saliva, egg white, and other secretions. Phage lytic enzymes (lysins) produced during bacteriophage infection are responsible for the ability of these viruses to lyse bacterial cells. Penicillin and related β-lactam antibiotics cause the death of bacteria through enzyme-mediated lysis that occurs after the drug causes the bacterium to form a defective cell wall. If the cell wall is completely lost and the penicillin was used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polymerase
A polymerase is an enzyme ( EC 2.7.7.6/7/19/48/49) that synthesizes long chains of polymers or nucleic acids. DNA polymerase and RNA polymerase are used to assemble DNA and RNA molecules, respectively, by copying a DNA template strand using base-pairing interactions or RNA by half ladder replication. A DNA polymerase from the thermophilic bacterium, ''Thermus aquaticus'' (''Taq'') ( PDBbr>1BGX EC 2.7.7.7) is used in the polymerase chain reaction, an important technique of molecular biology. A polymerase may be template dependent or template independent. Poly-A-polymerase is an example of template independent polymerase. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase also known to have template independent and template dependent activities. Types By function *DNA polymerase (DNA-directed DNA polymerase, DdDP) **Family A: DNA polymerase I; Pol γ, θ, ν **Family B: DNA polymerase II; Pol α, δ, ε, ζ **Family C: DNA polymerase III holoenzyme **Family X: Pol β, λ, μ * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DNA-binding Protein
DNA-binding proteins are proteins that have DNA-binding domains and thus have a specific or general affinity for DNA#Base pairing, single- or double-stranded DNA. Sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins generally interact with the major groove of B-DNA, because it exposes more functional groups that identify a base pair. However, there are some known minor groove DNA-binding ligands such as netropsin, distamycin, Hoechst 33258, pentamidine, DAPI and others. Examples DNA-binding proteins include transcription factors which Gene modulation, modulate the process of transcription, various polymerases, nucleases which cleave DNA molecules, and histones which are involved in chromosome packaging and transcription in the cell nucleus. DNA-binding proteins can incorporate such domains as the zinc finger, the helix-turn-helix, and the leucine zipper (among many others) that facilitate binding to nucleic acid. There are also more unusual examples such as TAL effector, transcription activa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbohydrate Metabolism
Carbohydrate metabolism is the whole of the biochemistry, biochemical processes responsible for the metabolic anabolism, formation, catabolism, breakdown, and interconversion of carbohydrates in life, living organisms. Carbohydrates are central to many essential metabolic pathways. Plants synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water through photosynthesis, allowing them to store energy absorbed from sunlight internally. When animals and fungi consume plants, they use cellular respiration to break down these stored carbohydrates to make energy available to cells. Both animals and plants temporarily store the released energy in the form of high-energy molecules, such as Adenosine triphosphate, ATP, for use in various cellular processes. Humans can consume a variety of carbohydrates, digestion breaks down complex carbohydrates into simple monomers (monosaccharides): glucose, fructose, mannose and galactose. After resorption (digestion), resorption in the human digestive sys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thioredoxin
Thioredoxin is a class of small redox proteins known to be present in all organisms. It plays a role in many important biological processes, including redox signaling. In humans, thioredoxins are encoded by ''TXN'' and ''TXN2'' genes. Loss-of-function mutation of either of the two human thioredoxin genes is lethal at the four-cell stage of the developing embryo. Although not entirely understood, thioredoxin is linked to medicine through their response to reactive oxygen species (ROS). In plants, thioredoxins regulate a spectrum of critical functions, ranging from photosynthesis to growth, flowering and the development and germination of seeds. Thioredoxins play a role in cell-to-cell communication. Occurrence They are found in nearly all known organisms and are essential for life in mammals. Function The primary function of Thioredoxin (Trx) is the reduction of oxidized cysteine residues and the cleavage of disulfide bonds. Multiple in vitro substrates for thioredoxin have be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recombinase
Recombinases are genetic recombination enzymes. Site specific recombinases DNA recombinases are widely used in multicellular organisms to manipulate the structure of genomes, and to control gene expression. These enzymes, derived from bacteria (bacteriophages) and fungi, catalyze directionally sensitive DNA exchange reactions between short (30–40 nucleotides) target site sequences that are specific to each recombinase. These reactions enable four basic functional modules: excision/insertion, inversion, translocation and cassette exchange, which have been used individually or combined in a wide range of configurations to control gene expression. Types include: * Cre recombinase * Hin recombinase * Tre recombinase * FLP recombinase Homologous recombination Recombinases have a central role in homologous recombination in a wide range of organisms. Such recombinases have been described in archaea, bacteria, eukaryotes and viruses. Archaea The archaeon ''Sulfolobus solfataricus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tyrosine
-Tyrosine or tyrosine (symbol Tyr or Y) or 4-hydroxyphenylalanine is one of the 20 standard amino acids that are used by cells to synthesize proteins. It is a non-essential amino acid with a polar side group. The word "tyrosine" is from the Greek ''tyrós'', meaning ''cheese'', as it was first discovered in 1846 by German chemist Justus von Liebig in the protein casein from cheese. It is called tyrosyl when referred to as a functional group or side chain. While tyrosine is generally classified as a Hydrophobe, hydrophobic amino acid, it is more hydrophilic than phenylalanine. It is Genetic code, encoded by the Genetic code#Codons, codons UAC and UAU in messenger RNA. Functions Aside from being a proteinogenic amino acid, tyrosine has a special role by virtue of the phenol functionality. It occurs in proteins that are part of signal transduction processes and functions as a receiver of phosphate groups that are transferred by way of protein kinases. Phosphorylation of the hyd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serine Protease
Serine proteases (or serine endopeptidases) are enzymes that cleave peptide bonds in proteins. Serine serves as the nucleophilic amino acid at the (enzyme's) active site. They are found ubiquitously in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Serine proteases fall into two broad categories based on their structure: chymotrypsin-like (trypsin-like) or subtilisin-like. Classification The MEROPS protease classification system counts 16 superfamilies (as of 2013) each containing many families. Each superfamily uses the catalytic triad or dyad in a different protein fold and so represent convergent evolution of the catalytic mechanism. The majority belong to the S1 family of the PA clan (superfamily) of proteases. For superfamilies, P: superfamily, containing a mixture of nucleophile class families, S: purely serine proteases. superfamily. Within each superfamily, families are designated by their catalytic nucleophile, (S: serine proteases). Substrate specificity Serine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
