« Killer Prophage for Hire | Main | A Pathogen's Swiss Army Knife »

Comments

Vallo Varik

My humble suggestions:

Methylglyoxal synthesis - E. coli and other bacteria as well as eukaryotes produce methylglyoxal, quite toxic metabolic product that kills bacteria as they produce that inside the cell. If many bacteria are producing it, it should give some advantage, especially if it is toxic in a bit larger amounts. However, nobody knows why it is useful, although some hints have emerged.

Stringent response - pleiotropic widespread bacterial specific process intensively studied for 50 years, stops growth and protein synthesis of bacteria, almost instantly. However, stopping of translation can not be so fast based on the effects on the inhibition of stable RNA synthesis (hallmark of stringent response).

Glycogen production - although it seems plain and simple, every article I've read on the production of glycogen starts with a quite surprising statement that it is not clear why bacteria produce it.


Elio's reply:

Your suggestions are most perceptive. They span several seemingly unrelated areas, which makes them particulalry valuable. I would rank them high on the list

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Working...
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.

Working...

Post a comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear until the author has approved them.

Your Information

(Name is required. Email address will not be displayed with the comment.)