title: Type II toxin: antitoxin systems. More than small selfish entities?
abstract: Toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules regulate metabolism and viability of bacteria and archaea. In type II TA systems these functions are generally thought to be performed by two small proteins. However, evidence is increasing that the toxins are much more diverse and can form multi-domain proteins. Recently, we published a novel type II TA system in which toxin and antitoxin are covalently linked into a single polypeptide chain. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on these elongated toxin homologs and provide perspectives for future study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rocker
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Mechanisms, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. Anton.Meinhart@mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meinhart
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000992:Antitoxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014118:Toxins, Biological / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000992:Antitoxins; D014118:Toxins, Biological
keywords: Elongated toxin; Fusion; Multi-domain protein; Toxin–antitoxin system