Abstract
Type I toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are widespread in bacteria and consist of a toxin-encoding mRNA and a partially overlapping antisense RNA that blocks expression of the toxin, either at the level of translation or by mRNA degradation. Four type I toxin families have so far been proposed in B. subtilis based on sequence similarity: TxpA/BsrG, BsrH/BsrE, YonT and YhzE and two (TxpA and BsrG) have been studied in some detail. Here we review what is known about these confirmed and putative toxin-antitoxin families in B. subtilis, their regulatory mechanisms, their potential roles and how they may link to the physiology of the cell.
Keywords:
RNA degradation; antisense RNA; antitoxins; post-segregational killing; prophage; toxins.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Review
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Antitoxins / chemistry*
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Antitoxins / genetics
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Bacillus subtilis / chemistry*
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Bacillus subtilis / genetics
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Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
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Bacterial Proteins / genetics
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Bacterial Toxins / chemistry*
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Bacterial Toxins / genetics
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Chromosomes, Bacterial / chemistry
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Chromosomes, Bacterial / genetics
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Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
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Genes, Bacterial*
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Nucleic Acid Conformation
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RNA Stability
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RNA, Antisense / chemistry
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RNA, Bacterial / chemistry*
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RNA, Bacterial / genetics
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RNA, Messenger / chemistry
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RNA, Messenger / genetics
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Sequence Alignment
Substances
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Antitoxins
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Bacterial Proteins
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Bacterial Toxins
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RNA, Antisense
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RNA, Bacterial
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RNA, Messenger