Atypical modes of bacterial histidine kinase signaling.
The environment of a cell has a profound influence on its physiology, development and evolution. Accordingly, the capacity to sense and respond to physical and chemical signals in the environment is an important feature of cellular biology. In bacteria, environmental sensory perception is often regulated by two-component signal transduction systems (TCSTs). Canonical TCST entails signal-induced autophosphorylation of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) followed by phosphoryl transfer to a cognate response regulator (RR) protein, which may affect gene expression at multiple levels. Recent studies provide evidence for systems that do not adhere to this archetypal TCST signaling model. We present selected examples of atypical modes of signal transduction including inactivation of HK activity via homo- and hetero oligomerization, and cross-phosphorylation between HKs. These examples highlight mechanisms bacteria use to integrate environmental signals to control complex adaptive processes.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.|Howard Taylor Ricketts Laboratory, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA.
Jonathan W
0000-0002-5467-4145
JW
Willett
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.|Howard Taylor Ricketts Laboratory, University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA.|Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Sean
S
Crosson
D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D000071677:Histidine Kinase / Q000378:metabolism*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D020218:Response Elements; D015398:Signal Transduction
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000071677:Histidine Kinase