If there’s a place where we wouldn’t be able to say “it’s just a small thing, don’t worry about it,” it would be in the microscopic world, where even the smallest of changes could cause the worst of effects. This statement is demonstrated by a protein used by meningococci bacteria, which causes deadly diseases like meningitis and sepsis. The said protein is called ProQ.
The RNA-binding protein ProQ is involved in the activation of more than 250 bacterial genes.
ProQ ensures that meningococci can better repair their DNA if damaged and it makes them resistant to oxidative stress. Both these factors contribute significantly to the bacteria's pathogenic properties.
[...]
"We were surprised that a comparatively small protein can have such a great influence on bacterial gene regulation," says Christoph Schoen, professor at the Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany.
ProQ only consists of about 120 amino acids. By comparison, many other proteins are usually made up of several hundred amino acids.
More details about this study over at EurekAlert.
(Image Credit: Alexandra Schubert-Unkmeir / University of Wuerzburg/ EurekAlert)
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