Transformation is a widespread mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria. DNA
uptake to the periplasmic compartment requires a DNA-uptake pilus and the DNA-binding …

Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative, spiral shaped bacterium that selectively and
chronically infects the gastric mucosa of humans. The clinical course of this infection can …

Transformation is the process of import and inheritable integration of DNA from the
environment. As such, it is believed to be a major driving force for evolution. Competence for …

The first step in the process of bacterial natural transformation is DNA capture. Although long
hypothesized based on genetics and functional experiments, the pilus structure responsible …

How cells control their shape and size is a long-standing question in cell biology. Many rod-
shaped bacteria elongate their sidewalls by the action of cell wall synthesizing machineries …

Live-cell imaging of biological processes at the single cell level has been instrumental to our
current understanding of the subcellular organization of bacterial cells. However, the …

Despite decades of investigation of genetic transformation in the model Gram-positive
bacterium Bacillus subtilis, the factors responsible for exogenous DNA binding at the surface …

Competence for genetic transformation is a differentiation program during which exogenous
DNA is imported into the cell and integrated into the chromosome. In Streptococcus …

Staphylococcus aureus is an important clinical bacterium prevalent in human-associated
microbiomes and the cause of many diseases. However, S. aureus has been intractable to …

At the heart of central carbon metabolism, pyruvate is a pivotal metabolite in all living cells.
Bacillus subtilis is able to excrete pyruvate as well as to use it as the sole carbon source. We …