Selective Bacteriocins: A Promising Treatment for Skin Infections Reveals Insights into Resistant Mutants, Vancomycin Resistance, and Cell Wall Alterations.

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant has become a major public health concern, necessitating the discovery of new antimicrobial compounds. Given that the skin microbiome plays a critical role in the host defence against pathogens, the development of therapies that target the interactions between commensal bacteria and pathogens in the skin microbiome offers a promising approach. Here, we report the discovery of two bacteriocins, cerein 7B and cerein B4080, that selectively inhibit without affecting , a commensal bacterium on the skin.

Regulation of Bacterial Cell Cycle Progression by Redundant Phosphatases.

In the model organism , a network of two-component systems involving the response regulators CtrA, DivK, and PleD coordinates cell cycle progression with differentiation. Active phosphorylated CtrA prevents chromosome replication in G cells while simultaneously regulating expression of genes required for morphogenesis and development. At the G-S transition, phosphorylated DivK (DivK∼P) and PleD (PleD∼P) accumulate to indirectly inactivate CtrA, which triggers DNA replication initiation and concomitant cellular differentiation.

Crosstalk Regulation Between Bacterial Chromosome Replication and Chromosome Partitioning.

Despite much effort, the bacterial cell cycle has proved difficult to study and understand. Bacteria do not conform to the standard eukaryotic model of sequential cell-cycle phases. Instead, for example, bacteria overlap their phases of chromosome replication and chromosome partitioning.

Phosphotransferase-dependent accumulation of (p)ppGpp in response to glutamine deprivation in Caulobacter crescentus.

The alarmone (p)ppGpp is commonly used by bacteria to quickly respond to nutrient starvation. Although (p)ppGpp synthetases such as SpoT have been extensively studied, little is known about the molecular mechanisms stimulating alarmone synthesis upon starvation. Here, we describe an essential role of the nitrogen-related phosphotransferase system (PTS(Ntr)) in controlling (p)ppGpp accumulation in Caulobacter crescentus.