Recent advances in metagenomics research have generated a bounty of information that
provides insight into the dynamic genetic exchange occurring between bacteriophage …

Many bacteria produce secreted virulence factors called exotoxins. Exotoxins are often
encoded by mobile genetic elements, including bacteriophage (phage). Phage can transfer …

Amongst the various mechanisms developed by pathogenic bacteria to cause disease,
toxins play an important role, since they are responsible for the majority of symptoms and …

Bacterially derived exotoxins kill eukaryotic cells by inactivating factors and/or pathways that
are universally conserved among eukaryotic organisms. The genes that encode these …

Many human diseases are caused by pathogens that produce exotoxins. The genes that
encode these exotoxins are frequently encoded by mobile DNA elements such as plasmids …

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are ubiquitous among microorganisms living in a wide
variety of environments and can be detected by several molecular techniques. Similarly …

This study considers gene location within bacteria as a function of genetic element mobility.
Our emphasis is on prophage encoding of bacterial virulence factors (VFs). At least four …

Bacterial exotoxins are generally thought to act by damaging cells or altering cell
metabolism. However, recent work has established that many exotoxins modulate eukaryotic …

Summary Toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules, composed of a toxic protein and a counteracting
antitoxin, play important roles in bacterial physiology. We examined the experimental …

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous genetic elements in bacteria that consist of a
growth-inhibiting toxin and its cognate antitoxin. These systems are prevalent in bacterial …