Almost all bacteria and many archaea contain genes whose expression inhibits cell growth
and may lead to cell death when overproduced, reminiscent of apoptotic genes in higher …

A survey of protein databases indicates that the majority of enzymes exist in oligomeric
forms, with about half of those found in the UniProt database being homodimeric …

Cellular novelty can emerge when non-functional loci become functional genes in a process
termed de novo gene birth. But how proteins with random amino acid sequences …

Escherichia coli K-12 contains at least 36 toxin genes, the expression of which causes
growth inhibition and eventual death. These toxins are usually co-expressed with their …

Genes for toxin-antitoxin (TA) complexes are widespread in prokaryote genomes, and
species frequently possess tens of plasmid and chromosomal TA loci. The complexes are …

Quorum sensing (QS) is a signaling mechanism for cell-to-cell communication between
bacteria, fungi, and even eukaryotic hosts such as plant and animal cells. Bacteria in real life …

Toxin–antitoxin (TA) systems are unique modules that effect plasmid stabilization via post-
segregational killing of the bacterial host. The genes encoding TA systems also exist on …

Toxin-antitoxin systems are ubiquitous in nature and present on the chromosomes of both
bacteria and archaea. MazEF is a type II toxin-antitoxin system present on the chromosome …

Escherichia coli contains a large number of suicide or toxin genes, whose expression leads
to cell growth arrest and eventual cell death. One such toxin, MazF, is an ACA‐specific …

mRNA interferases are sequence-specific endoribonucleases encoded by the toxin-antitoxin
systems in the bacterial genomes. MazF from Escherichia coli has been shown to be an …