__NOTOC__ The ''par'' stability determinant is a 400 bp

locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...

of the pAD1

plasmid A plasmid is a small, extrachromosomal DNA molecule within a cell that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently. They are most commonly found as small circular, double-stranded DNA molecules in bacteria; how ...

which encodes a type I toxin-antitoxin system in ''

Enterococcus faecalis ''Enterococcus faecalis'' – formerly classified as part of the group D ''Streptococcus'' system – is a Gram-positive, commensal bacterium inhabiting the gastrointestinal tracts of humans. Like other species in the genus ''Enterococcus'', ''E ...

''. It was the first such plasmid

addiction module Addiction modules are toxin-antitoxin systems. Each consists of a pair of genes that specify two components: a stable toxin and an unstable antitoxin that interferes with the lethal action of the toxin. Found first in E. coli on low copy number plas ...

to be found in

gram-positive bacteria In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bact ...

. The ''par'' locus contains two

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...

s: ''fst'' which encodes a 33-

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although hundreds of amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the alpha-amino acids, which comprise proteins. Only 22 alpha am ...

toxic protein and a gene for RNAII, the small RNA anti-toxin which inhibits fst

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

. The two genes are found on opposite DNA strands and share a 5' region which is where they are thought to have an

antisense In molecular biology and genetics, the sense of a nucleic acid molecule, particularly of a strand of DNA or RNA, refers to the nature of the roles of the strand and its complement in specifying a sequence of amino acids. Depending on the context, ...

interaction. Their RNA

secondary structure Protein secondary structure is the three dimensional conformational isomerism, form of ''local segments'' of proteins. The two most common Protein structure#Secondary structure, secondary structural elements are alpha helix, alpha helices and beta ...

s have been predicted computationally, the complementary regions appear to be presented on exposed loops for interaction. ''par'' maintains

pAD1 Peptidyl arginine deiminase, type I, also known as PADI1, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the ''PADI1'' gene. This gene encodes a member of the peptidyl arginine deiminase family of enzymes, which catalyze the post-translational deimi ...

by means of post-segregational killing (PSK). If a daughter cell does not inherit the ''par'' locus, the unstable RNAII will quickly degrade leaving the long-lived fst toxin to damage or kill the

daughter cell Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides into two daughter cells. Cell division usually occurs as part of a larger cell cycle in which the cell grows and replicates its chromosome(s) before dividing. In eukaryotes, there are ...

References

External links

* {{Rfam, id=RF01797, name=fst antitoxin sRNA (RNAII) Antisense RNA RNA antitoxins

See also

References

Further reading

External links