ppGpp: stringent response and survival.
Adaptation to any undesirable change in the environment dictates the survivability of many microorganisms, with such changes generating a quick and suitable response, which guides the physiology of bacteria. During nutritional deprivation, bacteria show a stringent response, as characterized by the accumulation of (p)ppGpp, resulting in the repression of stable RNA species, such as rRNA and tRNA, with a concomitant change in colony morphology. However, genes involved in amino acid biosynthesis become over-expressed to help bacteria survive under such conditions. The survivability of pathogenic bacteria inside a host cell also depends upon the stringent response demonstrated. Therefore, an understanding of the physiology of stringent conditions becomes very interesting in regulation of the growth and persistence of such invading pathogens.
Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India.
Vikas
V
Jain
Manish
M
Kumar
Dipankar
D
Chatterji
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D006159:Guanosine Tetraphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D018869:Heat-Shock Response; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011755:Pyrophosphatases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006159:Guanosine Tetraphosphate; D011755:Pyrophosphatases