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Structure‐function relationship of the transcription regulator Spx

Mustaree, Shobnom (2018) MOBN03 20172
Degree Projects in Molecular Biology
Popular Abstract
Do bacteria handle stress better than us?

Do bacteria have stress too? Are they able to deal with stress? If so, how do bacteria deal with stress? Certainly, bacteria experience stress too. Bacterial stress can be chemical (caused by toxic, harmful compounds e.g. antibiotics), or physical (caused by heat or harsh environment). Bacteria are pretty smart to handle stress. They have developed specific responses against different stresses and use different mechanisms to sense the stress and to rapidly adapt to changed environment. One known stress regulator is called Spx which respond to stress-induced damage in bacterial cells. Under non-stress conditions, Spx is degraded by a protein complex called ClpXP. Spx has a degradation tag by... (More)
Do bacteria handle stress better than us?

Do bacteria have stress too? Are they able to deal with stress? If so, how do bacteria deal with stress? Certainly, bacteria experience stress too. Bacterial stress can be chemical (caused by toxic, harmful compounds e.g. antibiotics), or physical (caused by heat or harsh environment). Bacteria are pretty smart to handle stress. They have developed specific responses against different stresses and use different mechanisms to sense the stress and to rapidly adapt to changed environment. One known stress regulator is called Spx which respond to stress-induced damage in bacterial cells. Under non-stress conditions, Spx is degraded by a protein complex called ClpXP. Spx has a degradation tag by which ClpXP can recognize Spx. During stress conditions, Spx accumulates in the cells in order to adapt to the stress.

We wanted to investigate how some mutations (changes) in the degradation tag of Spx affect the recognition by the ClpXP proteolytic chamber. To see the effect I introduced the changed degradation tag of Spx in bacterial cells and grew them in special media where accumulation of Spx resulted in blue color of the cells whereas less blue color indicates less Spx in the cells.

By observing the intensity of blue color (Fig 1), we found that the length of the degradation tag affect access to the ClpXP protease. Spx with a shorter tag is accumulated in the cells due to poor degradation; hence, they showed more blue color (Fig 1B). Additionally, the properties of amino acid residues which are present in the degradation tag of Spx also affect the accession to the ClpXP degradation chamber (Fig 1A).

The findings illustrate how bacterial cells can cope with stress by using the Spx/ClpXP degradation mechanism. Some pathogenic bacteria also use Spx/ClpXP to survive in the presence of antibiotics. The results of these and other basic studies may provide background knowledge necessary for development of new ways to combat harmful bacteria.

Master’s Degree Project in Molecular Biology 60 credits 2018
Department of Biology, Lund University

Advisor: Claes von Wachenfeldt, Department of Biology (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Mustaree, Shobnom
supervisor
organization
course
MOBN03 20172
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
language
English
id
8953103
date added to LUP
2018-06-26 14:54:34
date last changed
2018-06-26 14:54:34
@misc{8953103,
  author       = {{Mustaree, Shobnom}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Structure‐function relationship of the transcription regulator Spx}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}