Toxin-Antitoxin systems: their role in persistence, biofilm formation, and pathogenicity.
Pathogens Disease. 2014-02-24; 70(3): 240-249
DOI: 10.1111/2049-632x.12145
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1. Pathog Dis. 2014 Apr;70(3):240-9. doi: 10.1111/2049-632X.12145. Epub 2014 Feb 24.
Toxin-Antitoxin systems: their role in persistence, biofilm formation, and
pathogenicity.
Wen Y(1), Behiels E, Devreese B.
Author information:
(1)Unit for Biological Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, Laboratory for Protein
Biochemistry and Biomolecular Engineering (L-ProBE), Ghent University, Ghent,
Belgium.
One of the most pertinent recent outcomes of molecular microbiology efforts to
understand bacterial behavior is the discovery of a wide range of toxin-antitoxin
(TA) systems that are tightly controlling bacterial persistence. While TA systems
were originally linked to control over the genetic material, for example plasmid
maintenance, it is now clear that they are involved in essential cellular
processes like replication, gene expression, and cell wall synthesis. Toxin
activity is induced stochastically or after environmental stimuli, resulting in
silencing of the above-mentioned biological processes and entry in a dormant
state. In this minireview, we highlight the recent developments in research on
these intriguing systems with a focus on their role in biofilms and in bacterial
virulence. We discuss their potential as targets in antimicrobial drug discovery.
© 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley
& Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1111/2049-632X.12145
PMID: 24478112 [Indexed for MEDLINE]