Loading…
Ribonucleolytic activity of mycoplasmas
Mycoplasmas are incapable of de novo synthesis of nucleotides and must therefore secrete nucleases in order to replenish the pool of nucleic acid precursors. The nucleolytic activity of mycoplasmas is an important factor in their pathogenicity. Bacterial ribonucleases (RNases) may produce a broad sp...
Saved in:
Published in: | Microbiology (New York) 2014-05, Vol.83 (3), p.247-254 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | Mycoplasmas are incapable of de novo synthesis of nucleotides and must therefore secrete nucleases in order to replenish the pool of nucleic acid precursors. The nucleolytic activity of mycoplasmas is an important factor in their pathogenicity. Bacterial ribonucleases (RNases) may produce a broad spectrum of biological effects, including antiviral and antitumor activity. Mycoplasma RNases are therefore of interest. In the present work, the capacity of
Acholeplasma laidlawii
and
Mycoplasma hominis
for RNase synthesis and secretion was studied. During the stationary growth phase, these organisms were found to synthesize Mg
2+
-dependent RNases, with their highest activity detected outside the cells. Localization of
A. laidlawii
RNases was determined: almost 90% of the RNase activity was found to be associated with the membrane vesicles. Bioinformational analysis revealed homology between the nucleotide sequences of 14
Bacillus subtilis
genes encoding the products with RNase activity and the genes of the mycoplasmas under study. Amino acid sequences of 4
A. laidlawii p
roteins with ribonuclease activity and the Bsn RNase were also established. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0026-2617 1608-3237 |
DOI: | 10.1134/S0026261714030072 |