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Adv Microb Physiol 2018 20;73:77-122. Epub 2018 Jul 20.

Pulmonary Section, Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Denver, CO, United States; Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, United States.

A growing body of research suggests bacterial metabolism and membrane bioenergetics affect the lethality of a broad spectrum of antibiotics. Electrochemical gradients spanning energy-transducing membranes are the foundation of the chemiosmotic hypothesis and are essential for life; accordingly, their dysfunction appears to be a critical factor in bacterial death. Proton flux across energy-transducing membranes is central for cellular homeostasis as vectorial proton translocation generates a proton motive force used for ATP synthesis, pH homeostasis, and maintenance of solute gradients. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 13;73:63-76. Epub 2018 Jul 13.

Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, United States. Electronic address:

Nitric oxide (NO) is an antimicrobial metabolite produced by immune cells to prohibit infection. Due to its reactivity, NO has numerous reaction routes available to it in biological systems with some leading to cellular damage and others producing innocuous compounds. Pathogens have evolved resistance mechanisms toward NO, and many of these take the form of enzymes that chemically passivate the molecule. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 20;73:171-220. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), CNR, Napoli, Italy; Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Napoli, Italy; Dipartimento di Biologia, Università Roma 3, Roma, Italy. Electronic address:

This review is an overview on marine bioactive peptides with promising activities for the development of alternative drugs to fight human pathologies. In particular, we focus on potentially prolific producers of peptides in microorganisms, including sponge-associated bacteria and marine photoautotrophs such as microalgae and cyanobacteria. Microorganisms are still poorly explored for drug discovery, even if they are highly metabolically plastic and potentially amenable to culturing. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 6;73:123-169. Epub 2018 Jul 6.

Department of Pathology and Infectious Disease, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom.

With the advent of the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis, our arsenal of effective antibiotics is diminishing. The widespread use and misuse of antibiotics in human and veterinary medicine, compounded by the lack of novel classes of antibiotic in the pharmaceutical pipeline, has left a hole in our antibiotic armamentarium. Thus, alternatives to traditional antibiotics are being investigated, including two major groups of antibacterial agents, which have been extensively studied, phytochemicals and metals. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 20;73:1-62. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

School of Medical Sciences, Inflammatory Response and Infection Susceptibility Centre (iRiSC), Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden. Electronic address:

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in humans, and the majority are caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). The rising antibiotic resistance among UPEC and the frequent failure of antibiotics to effectively treat recurrent UTI and catheter-associated UTI motivate research on alternative ways of managing UTI. Abundant evidence indicates that the toxic radical nitric oxide (NO), formed by activation of the inducible nitric oxide synthase, plays an important role in host defence to bacterial infections, including UTI. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 ;72:xi

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 28;72:65-115. Epub 2018 Feb 28.

UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States. Electronic address:

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gaseous signalling molecule that plays diverse physiological functions including antimicrobial host defence. During microbial infection, NO is synthesized by inducible NO synthase (iNOS), which is expressed by host immune cells through the recognition of microbial pattern molecules. Therefore, sensing pathogens or their pattern molecules by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which are located at the cell surface, endosomal and phagosomal compartment, or in the cytosol, is key in inducing iNOS and eliciting antimicrobial host defence. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 2;72:29-63. Epub 2018 Mar 2.

Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Ikoma, Nara, Japan. Electronic address:

Nitric oxide (NO) is a cellular signalling molecule widely conserved among organisms, including microorganisms such as bacteria, yeasts, and fungi, and higher eukaryotes such as plants and mammals. NO is mainly produced by the activities of NO synthase (NOS) or nitrite reductase (NIR). There are several NO detoxification systems, including NO dioxygenase (NOD) and S-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR). Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 15;72:193-237. Epub 2018 Mar 15.

School of Biosciences and Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

This chapter provides an overview of current knowledge of how anaerobic bacteria protect themselves against nitrosative stress. Nitric oxide (NO) is the primary source of this stress. Aerobically its removal is an oxidative process, whereas reduction is required anaerobically. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 26;72:147-191. Epub 2018 Feb 26.

University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, United States. Electronic address:

Nitric oxide (NO) is a potent inhibitor of diverse cellular processes in bacteria. Therefore, it was surprising to discover that several bacterial species, primarily Gram-positive organisms, harboured a gene encoding nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Recent attempts to characterize bacterial NOS (bNOS) have resulted in the discovery of structural features that may allow it to function as a NO dioxygenase and produce nitrate in addition to NO. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 19;72:117-145. Epub 2018 Feb 19.

Brain Korea 21 PLUS Project for Medical Science, Institute for Immunology and Immunological Diseases, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. Electronic address:

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacterium, is characterized by its versatility that enables persistent survival under adverse conditions. It can grow on diverse energy sources and readily acquire resistance to antimicrobial agents. As an opportunistic human pathogen, it also causes chronic infections inside the anaerobic mucus airways of cystic fibrosis patients. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2018 26;72:1-28. Epub 2018 Feb 26.

Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.

Cysteine hydropersulphide (CysSSH) is a cysteine derivative having one additional sulphur atom bound to a cysteinyl thiol group. Recent advances in the development of analytical methods for detection and quantification of persulphides and polysulphides have revealed the biological presence, in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, of hydropersulphides in diverse forms such as CysSSH, homocysteine hydropersulphide, glutathione hydropersulphide, bacillithiol hydropersulphide, coenzyme A hydropersulphide, and protein hydropersulphides. Owing to the chemical reactivity of the persulphide moiety, biological systems utilize persulphides as important intermediates in the synthesis of various sulphur-containing biomolecules. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 25;71:97-132. Epub 2017 May 25.

University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

Phytoremediation is a promising technology that uses plants and their associated microbes to clean up contaminants from the environment. In recent years, phytoremediation assisted by plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) has been highly touted for cleaning up toxic metals from soil. PGPB include rhizospheric bacteria, endophytic bacteria and the bacteria that facilitate phytoremediation by other means. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 6;71:235-257. Epub 2017 Jul 6.

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, TX, United States. Electronic address:

Haem-based sensors have emerged during the last 15 years as being a large family of proteins that occur in all kingdoms of life. These sensors are responsible mainly for detecting binding of O, CO and NO and reporting the ligation status to an output domain with an enzymatic or macromolecule-binding property. A myriad of biological functions have been associated with these sensors, which are involved in vasodilation, bacterial symbiosis, chemotaxis and biofilm formation, among others. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 10;71:171-234. Epub 2017 Jul 10.

CNR Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, Rome, Italy. Electronic address:

Cytochrome bd is a unique prokaryotic respiratory terminal oxidase that does not belong to the extensively investigated family of haem-copper oxidases (HCOs). The enzyme catalyses the four-electron reduction of O to 2HO, using quinols as physiological reducing substrates. The reaction is electrogenic and cytochrome bd therefore sustains bacterial energy metabolism by contributing to maintain the transmembrane proton motive force required for ATP synthesis. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 6;71:133-169. Epub 2017 Jul 6.

Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States. Electronic address:

The discovery of the globin-coupled sensor (GCS) family of haem proteins has provided new insights into signalling proteins and pathways by which organisms sense and respond to changing oxygen levels. GCS proteins consist of a sensor globin domain linked to a variety of output domains, suggesting roles in controlling numerous cellular pathways, and behaviours in response to changing oxygen concentration. Members of this family of proteins have been identified in the genomes of numerous organisms and characterization of GCS with output domains, including methyl accepting chemotaxis proteins, kinases, and diguanylate cyclases, have yielded an understanding of the mechanism by which oxygen controls activity of GCS protein output domains, as well as downstream proteins and pathways regulated by GCS signalling. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 29;71:1-96. Epub 2017 May 29.

The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

Ruthenium is seldom mentioned in microbiology texts, due to the fact that this metal has no known, essential roles in biological systems, nor is it generally considered toxic. Since the fortuitous discovery of cisplatin, first as an antimicrobial agent and then later employed widely as an anticancer agent, complexes of other platinum group metals, such as ruthenium, have attracted interest for their medicinal properties. Here, we review at length how ruthenium complexes have been investigated as potential antimicrobial, antiparasitic and chemotherapeutic agents, in addition to their long and well-established roles as biological stains and inhibitors of calcium channels. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 ;70:xi-xii

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 16;70:85-103. Epub 2017 Feb 16.

Aberdeen Fungal Group, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Institute of Medical Sciences, Foresterhill, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

All living organisms require certain micronutrients such as iron, zinc, manganese and copper for cellular function and growth. For human pathogens however, the maintenance of metal ion homeostasis is particularly challenging. This is because the mammalian host actively enforces extremes of micronutrient availability on potential microbial invaders-processes collectively termed nutritional immunity. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 14;70:37-83. Epub 2017 Mar 14.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, United States. Electronic address:

The importance of manganese in the physiology of marine microbes, the biogeochemistry of the ocean and the health of microbial communities of past and present is emerging. Manganese is distributed widely throughout the global ocean, taking the form of an essential antioxidant (Mn), a potent oxidant (Mn) and strong adsorbent (Mn oxides) sequestering disproportionately high levels of trace metals and nutrients in comparison to the surrounding seawater. Manganese is, in fact, linked to nearly all other elemental cycles and intricately involved in the health, metabolism and function of the ocean's microbiome. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 13;70:315-379. Epub 2017 Feb 13.

Institute for Cell & Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

The metals manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc are essential for almost all bacteria, but their precise metal requirements vary by species, by ecological niche and by growth condition. Bacteria thus must acquire each of these essential elements in sufficient quantity to satisfy their cellular demand, but in excess these same elements are toxic. Metal toxicity has been exploited by humanity for centuries, and by the mammalian immune system for far longer, yet the mechanisms by which these elements cause toxicity to bacteria are not fully understood. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 3;70:261-313. Epub 2017 Apr 3.

School of Biosciences, the University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

Antibiotic resistance is recognised as a major global threat to public health by the World Health Organization. Currently, several hundred thousand deaths yearly can be attributed to infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The major driver for the development of antibiotic resistance is considered to be the use, misuse and overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 18;70:193-260. Epub 2017 Mar 18.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States. Electronic address:

Copper is a ubiquitous element in the environment as well as living organisms, with its redox capabilities and complexation potential making it indispensable for many cellular functions. However, these same properties can be highly detrimental to prokaryotes and eukaryotes when not properly controlled, damaging many biomolecules including DNA, lipids, and proteins. To restrict free copper concentrations, all bacteria have developed mechanisms of resistance, sequestering and effluxing labile copper to minimize its deleterious effects. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 20;70:123-191. Epub 2017 Feb 20.

School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences and Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Electronic address:

Trace metals such as Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu are essential for various biological functions including proper innate immune function. The host immune system has complicated and coordinated mechanisms in place to either starve and/or overload invading pathogens with various metals to combat the infection. Here, we discuss the roles of Fe, Mn and Zn in terms of nutritional immunity, and also the roles of Cu and Zn in metal overload in relation to the physiology and pathogenesis of two human streptococcal species, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 11;70:105-121. Epub 2017 Feb 11.

School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham University Park, Nottingham, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

A wide range of fungicides (or antifungals) are used in agriculture and medicine, with activities against a spectrum of fungal pathogens. Unfortunately, the evolution of fungicide resistance has become a major issue. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new antifungal treatments. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2017 18;70:1-36. Epub 2017 Mar 18.

Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, United States. Electronic address:

Low concentrations of nitric oxide (NO) modulate varied behaviours in bacteria including biofilm dispersal and quorum sensing-dependent light production. H-NOX (haem-nitric oxide/oxygen binding) is a haem-bound protein domain that has been shown to be involved in mediating these bacterial responses to NO in several organisms. However, many bacteria that respond to nanomolar concentrations of NO do not contain an annotated H-NOX domain. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 1;69:51-155. Epub 2016 Sep 1.

Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, United States. Electronic address:

In order to survive environmental stressors, including those induced by growth in the human host, bacterial pathogens will adjust their membrane physiology accordingly. These physiological changes also include the use of host-derived lipids to alter their own membranes and feed central metabolic pathways. Within the host, the pathogen is exposed to many stressful stimuli. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 29;69:187-215. Epub 2016 Aug 29.

Bristol Glaciology Center, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

The large diversity of marine microorganisms harboured by oceans plays an important role in planet sustainability by driving globally important biogeochemical cycles; all primary and most secondary production in the oceans is performed by microorganisms. The largest part of the planet is covered by cold environments; consequently, cold-adapted microorganisms have crucial functional roles in globally important environmental processes and biogeochemical cycles cold-adapted extremophiles are a remarkable model to shed light on the molecular basis of survival at low temperature. The indigenous populations of Antarctic and Arctic microorganisms are endowed with genetic and physiological traits that allow them to live and effectively compete at the temperatures prevailing in polar regions. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 16;69:157-186. Epub 2016 Sep 16.

University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address:

The H-NS family of DNA-binding proteins is the subject of intense study due to its important roles in the regulation of horizontally acquired genes critical for virulence, antibiotic resistance, and metabolism. Xenogeneic silencing proteins, typified by the H-NS protein of Escherichia coli, specifically target and downregulate expression from AT-rich genes by selectively recognizing specific structural features unique to the AT-rich minor groove. In doing so, these proteins facilitate bacterial evolution; enabling these cells to engage in horizontal gene transfer while buffering potential any detrimental fitness consequences that may result from it. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 31;69:1-50. Epub 2016 Aug 31.

WELBIO, Brussels, Belgium; de Duve Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address:

Bacterial lipoproteins are a very diverse group of proteins characterized by the presence of an N-terminal lipid moiety that serves as a membrane anchor. Lipoproteins have a wide variety of crucial functions, ranging from envelope biogenesis to stress response. In Gram-negative bacteria, lipoproteins can be targeted to various destinations in the cell, including the periplasmic side of the cytoplasmic or outer membrane, the cell surface or the external milieu. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 ;68:xiii

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 23;68:433-507. Epub 2016 Mar 23.

School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

In Escherichia coli, hydrogen metabolism plays a prominent role in anaerobic physiology. The genome contains the capability to produce and assemble up to four [NiFe]-hydrogenases, each of which are known, or predicted, to contribute to different aspects of cellular metabolism. In recent years, there have been major advances in the understanding of the structure, function, and roles of the E. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 29;68:353-432. Epub 2016 Mar 29.

Estación Experimental del Zaidín, CSIC, Granada, Spain. Electronic address:

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas (GHG) with substantial global warming potential and also contributes to ozone depletion through photochemical nitric oxide (NO) production in the stratosphere. The negative effects of N2O on climate and stratospheric ozone make N2O mitigation an international challenge. More than 60% of global N2O emissions are emitted from agricultural soils mainly due to the application of synthetic nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 1;68:219-352. Epub 2016 Apr 1.

Institute of Water and Wetland Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address:

Electron transport phosphorylation is the central mechanism for most prokaryotic species to harvest energy released in the respiration of their substrates as ATP. Microorganisms have evolved incredible variations on this principle, most of these we perhaps do not know, considering that only a fraction of the microbial richness is known. Besides these variations, microbial species may show substantial versatility in using respiratory systems. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 15;68:169-217. Epub 2016 Mar 15.

University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain. Electronic address:

Iron-containing metalloproteins are the main cornerstones for efficient electron transport in biological systems. The abundance and diversity of iron-dependent proteins in cyanobacteria makes those organisms highly dependent of this micronutrient. To cope with iron imbalance, cyanobacteria have developed a survey of adaptation strategies that are strongly related to the regulation of photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism and other central electron transfer pathways. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 16;68:139-67. Epub 2016 Mar 16.

Institute for Microbiology and Wine Research, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany.

Many membrane-bound sensor kinases require accessory proteins for function. The review describes functional control of membrane-bound sensors by transporters. The C4-dicarboxylate sensor kinase DcuS requires the aerobic or anaerobic C4-dicarboxylate transporters DctA or DcuB, respectively, for function and forms DctA/DcuS or DcuB/DcuS sensor complexes. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 24;68:87-138. Epub 2016 Mar 24.

School of Biological Sciences and School of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

The biochemical mechanisms by which microbes interact with extracellular soluble metal ions and insoluble redox-active minerals have been the focus of intense research over the last three decades. The process presents two challenges to the microorganism. Firstly, electrons have to be transported at the cell surface, which in Gram-negative bacteria presents an additional problem of electron transfer across the ~6nm of the outer membrane. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 15;68:41-85. Epub 2016 Mar 15.

Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain.

A number of species of Haloferax genus (halophilic archaea) are able to grow microaerobically or even anaerobically using different alternative electron acceptors such as fumarate, nitrate, chlorate, dimethyl sulphoxide, sulphide and/or trimethylamine. This metabolic capability is also shown by other species of the Halobacteriaceae and Haloferacaceae families (Archaea domain) and it has been mainly tested by physiological studies where cell growth is observed under anaerobic conditions in the presence of the mentioned compounds. This work summarises the main reported features on anaerobic metabolism in the Haloferax, one of the better described haloarchaeal genus with significant potential uses in biotechnology and bioremediation. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2016 10;68:1-40. Epub 2016 Mar 10.

Institute for Biology/Microbiology, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.

Streptomyces species belong to the phylum Actinobacteria and can only grow with oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor. Like other members of this phylum, such as corynebacteria and mycobacteria, the aerobic respiratory chain lacks a soluble cytochrome c. It is therefore implicit that direct electron transfer between the cytochrome bc1 and the cytochrome aa3 oxidase complexes occurs. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 ;67:ix

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 21;67:293-314. Epub 2015 Oct 21.

School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom; School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.

O2 levels encountered in vivo in cells and tissues are almost always at least an order of magnitude less than atmospheric pO2 because of sensing, signalling and bioenergetic demand. Although deleterious reactions are minimized by protective mechanisms (residual toxic products scavenged and detoxified) ambient levels should be mimicked in experiments with whole organisms, their isolated organs, tissues or cells and also with cultures of cell lines. These are also important issues for microorganisms inhabiting low O2 niches within higher organisms and their cells. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 27;67:235-92. Epub 2015 Oct 27.

Protein Chemistry, Proteomics and Epigenetic Signalling (PPES), Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address:

Worldwide, infectious diseases are one of the leading causes of death among children. At least 65% of all infections are caused by the biofilm mode of bacterial growth. Bacteria colonise surfaces and grow as multicellular biofilm communities surrounded by a polymeric matrix as a common survival strategy. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 21;67:177-234. Epub 2015 Oct 21.

T.C. Jenkins Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Electronic address:

In the last few years, advances in algal research have identified the participation of haemoglobins in nitrogen metabolism and the management of reactive nitrogen and oxygen species. This chapter summarises the state of knowledge concerning algal haemoglobins with a focus on the most widely used model system, namely, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Genetic, physiologic, structural, and chemical information is compiled to provide a framework for further studies. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 27;67:127-76. Epub 2015 Oct 27.

Dipartimento di Scienze, Università Roma Tre, Roma, Italy.

Iron plays a key role in a wide range of metabolic and signalling functions representing an essential nutrient for almost all forms of life. However, the ferric form is hardly soluble, whereas the ferrous form is highly toxic. Thus, in biological fluids, most of the iron is sequestered in iron- or haem-binding proteins and the level of free iron is low, making haem and iron acquisition a challenge for pathogenic bacteria during infections. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 12;67:85-126. Epub 2015 Oct 12.

Dipartimento di Chimica "Ugo Schiff", Università di Firenze, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy. Electronic address:

In this chapter, we will discuss the paradigmatic case of Thermobifida fusca (Tf-trHb) HbO in its ferrous and ferric states and its behaviour towards a battery of possible ligands. This choice was dictated by the fact that it has been one of the most extensively studied truncated haemoglobins, both in terms of spectroscopic and molecular dynamics studies. Tf-trHb typifies the structural properties of group II trHbs, as the active site is characterized by a highly polar distal environment in which TrpG8, TyrCD1, and TyrB10 provide three potential H-bond donors in the distal cavity capable of stabilizing the incoming ligands. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 21;67:1-84. Epub 2015 Oct 21.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, Oregon, USA. Electronic address:

Cytochromes c' are a group of class IIa cytochromes with pentacoordinate haem centres and are found in photosynthetic, denitrifying and methanotrophic bacteria. Their function remains unclear, although roles in nitric oxide (NO) trafficking during denitrification or in cellular defence against nitrosoative stress have been proposed. Cytochromes c' are typically dimeric with each c-type haem-containing monomer folding as a four-α-helix bundle. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 30;66:357-428. Epub 2015 May 30.

Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), National Research Council (CNR), Naples, Italy; Department of Biology, University Roma 3, Rome, Italy. Electronic address:

Microbes produce a huge array of secondary metabolites endowed with important ecological functions. These molecules, which can be catalogued as natural products, have long been exploited in medical fields as antibiotics, anticancer and anti-infective agents. Recent years have seen considerable advances in elucidating natural-product biosynthesis and many drugs used today are natural products or natural-product derivatives. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 30;66:323-55. Epub 2015 May 30.

Clinical & Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, United Kingdom.

The exclusive reservoir of the genus Neisseria is the human. Of the broad range of species that comprise the Neisseria, only two are frequently pathogenic, and only one of those is a resident of the nasopharynx. Although Neisseria meningitidis can cause severe disease if it invades the bloodstream, the vast majority of interactions between humans and Neisseria are benign, with the bacteria inhabiting its mucosal niche as a non-invasive commensal. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 9;66:55-321. Epub 2015 Jul 9.

Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Oeiras, Portugal. Electronic address:

Dissimilatory sulphate reduction is the unifying and defining trait of sulphate-reducing prokaryotes (SRP). In their predominant habitats, sulphate-rich marine sediments, SRP have long been recognized to be major players in the carbon and sulphur cycles. Other, more recently appreciated, ecophysiological roles include activity in the deep biosphere, symbiotic relations, syntrophic associations, human microbiome/health and long-distance electron transfer. Read More

Adv Microb Physiol 2015 10;66:1-53. Epub 2015 Jun 10.

School of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom. Electronic address:

The CydDC complex of Escherichia coli is a heterodimeric ATP-binding cassette type transporter (ABC transporter) that exports the thiol-containing redox-active molecules cysteine and glutathione. These reductants are thought to aid redox homeostasis of the periplasm, permitting correct disulphide folding of periplasmic and secreted proteins. Loss of CydDC results in the periplasm becoming more oxidising and abolishes the assembly of functional bd-type respiratory oxidases that couple the oxidation of ubiquinol to the reduction of oxygen to water. Read More