Int&in: A machine learning-based web server for active split site identification in inteins.

Inteins are proteins that excise themselves out of host proteins and ligate the flanking polypeptides in an auto-catalytic process called protein splicing. In nature, inteins are either contiguous or split. In the case of split inteins, the two fragments must first form a complex for the splicing to occur.

Is Supplementation with Micronutrients Still Necessary during Pregnancy? A Review.

Introduction: Proper nutrition during pregnancy is important to prevent nutritional imbalances that interfere with pregnancy. Micronutrients play critical roles in embryogenesis, fetal growth, and maternal health, as energy, protein, vitamin, and mineral needs can increase during pregnancy. Increased needs can be met by increasing the intake of dietary micronutrients.

Expanding the SiMPl Plasmid Toolbox for Use with Spectinomycin/Streptomycin.

We recently developed the SiMPl plasmid toolbox, which is constituted by pairs of plasmids, generically indicated as pSiMPl_N and pSiMPl_C, which can be stably maintained in with a single antibiotic x. The method exploits the split intein gp41-1 to reconstitute the enzyme conferring resistance toward the antibiotic x, whereby each enzyme fragment is expressed from one of the plasmids in the pair. pSiMPl plasmids are currently available for use with ampicillin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol, hygromycin, and puromycin.

Author Correction: Split intein-mediated selection of cells containing two plasmids using a single antibiotic.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Split intein-mediated selection of cells containing two plasmids using a single antibiotic.

To build or dissect complex pathways in bacteria and mammalian cells, it is often necessary to recur to at least two plasmids, for instance harboring orthogonal inducible promoters. Here we present SiMPl, a method based on rationally designed split enzymes and intein-mediated protein trans-splicing, allowing the selection of cells carrying two plasmids with a single antibiotic. We show that, compared to the traditional method based on two antibiotics, SiMPl increases the production of the antimicrobial non-ribosomal peptide indigoidine and the non-proteinogenic aromatic amino acid para-amino-L-phenylalanine from bacteria.