Complete genome sequence of the model actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

Streptomyces coelicolor is a representative of the group of soil-dwelling, filamentous bacteria responsible for producing most natural antibiotics used in human and veterinary medicine. Here we report the 8,667,507 base pair linear chromosome of this organism, containing the largest number of genes so far discovered in a bacterium. The 7,825 predicted genes include more than 20 clusters coding for known or predicted secondary metabolites. The genome contains an unprecedented proportion of regulatory genes, predominantly those likely to be involved in responses to external stimuli and stresses, and many duplicated gene sets that may represent 'tissue-specific' isoforms operating in different phases of colonial development, a unique situation for a bacterium. An ancient synteny was revealed between the central 'core' of the chromosome and the whole chromosome of pathogens Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The genome sequence will greatly increase our understanding of microbial life in the soil as well as aiding the generation of new drug candidates by genetic engineering.     

Structural disorder in plant proteins: where plasticity meets sessility

Plants are sessile organisms. This intriguing nature provokes the question of how they survive despite the continual perturbations caused by their constantly changing environment. The large amount of knowledge accumulated to date demonstrates the fascinating dynamic and plastic mechanisms, which underpin the diverse strategies selected in plants in response to the fluctuating environment. This phenotypic plasticity requires an efficient integration of external cues to their growth and developmental programs that can only be achieved through the dynamic and interactive coordination of various signaling networks. Given the versatility of intrinsic structural disorder within proteins, this feature appears as one of the leading characters of such complex functional circuits, critical for plant adaptation and survival in their wild habitats. In this review, we present information of those intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) from plants for which their high level of predicted structural disorder has been correlated with a particular function, or where there is experimental evidence linking this structural feature with its protein function. Using examples of plant IDPs involved in the control of cell cycle, metabolism, hormonal signaling and regulation of gene expression, development and responses to stress, we demonstrate the critical importance of IDPs throughout the life of the plant.     

DNA cloning in Streptomyces: a bifunctional replicon comprising pBR322 inserted into a Streptomyces phage

The Gram-positive, mycelial, differentiating streptomycetes are responsible for the production of many important antibiotics. The availability of gene cloning systems in this microbial group would have many industrial applications besides allowing more penetrating study of the genetics of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) (which, as the best understood streptomycete genetically, serves as a model for much other Streptomyces genetics). Recent successes (see previous paper) in introducing Streptomyces DNA into S. coelicolor and Streptomyces lividans on plasmid vectors would be nicely complemented by the availability of Streptomyces bacteriophage vectors (discussed in ref. 5): for example, many phages have wide and easily defined host ranges; heat-inducible prophages might be used to give high copy number of cloned DNA; efficient phage promoters might be used to increase gene expression; there may be differential stabilities for particular DNA sequences cloned in plasmids vis-à-vis phages; selective insertion of DNA, utilizing packaging constraints, may be possible with phages; and in situ hybridization of radioactive probes to DNA in plaques is likely to be simple. We describe here the use of the moderately wide host range temperate phage, phi C31, for this purpose.     

Why stainless steel corrodes

Stainless steels are used in countless diverse applications for their corrosion resistance. Although they have extremely good general resistance, they are nevertheless susceptible to pitting corrosion. This localized dissolution of an oxide-covered metal in specific aggressive environments is one of the most common and catastrophic causes of failure of metallic structures. The pitting process has been described as random, sporadic and stochastic and the prediction of the time and location of events remains extremely difficult. Many contested models of pitting corrosion exist, but one undisputed aspect is that manganese sulphide inclusions play a critical role. Indeed, the vast majority of pitting events are found to occur at, or adjacent to, such second-phase particles. Chemical changes in and around sulphide inclusions have been postulated as a mechanism for pit initiation but such variations have never been measured. Here we use nanometre-scale secondary ion mass spectroscopy to demonstrate a significant reduction in the Cr:Fe ratio of the steel matrix around MnS particles. These chromium-depleted zones are susceptible to high-rate dissolution that 'triggers' pitting. The implications of these results are that materials processing conditions control the likelihood of corrosion failures, and these data provide a basis for optimizing such conditions.