The recent sequencing of the entire genomes of Mycoplasma genitalium and M.
pneumoniae has attracted considerable attention to the molecular biology of mycoplasmas …

Phase and antigenic variation result in a heterogenic phenotype of a clonal bacterial
population, in which individual cells either express the phase-variable protein (s) or not, or …

Type I restriction enzymes (REases) are large pentameric proteins with separate restriction
(R), methylation (M) and DNA sequence-recognition (S) subunits. They were the first …

Listeria monocytogenes is an important foodborne pathogen responsible for the disease
listeriosis, and can be found throughout the environment, in many foods and in food …

Background Bifidobacterial genome analysis has provided insights as to how these gut
commensals adapt to and persist in the human GIT, while also revealing genetic diversity …

Epigenetic modifications in bacteria, such as DNA methylation, have been shown to affect
gene regulation, thereby generating cells that are isogenic but with distinctly different …

Type II restriction modification systems (RMSs) have been regarded either as defense tools
or as molecular parasites of bacteria. We extensively analyzed their evolutionary role from …

The hsd genes of Mycoplasma pulmonis encode restriction and modification enzymes
exhibiting a high degree of sequence similarity to the type I enzymes of enteric bacteria. The …

Restriction–modification (RM) systems are able to methylate or cleave DNA depending on
methylation status of their recognition site. It allows them to protect bacterial cells from …

The ubiquity of horizontal gene transfer in the living world, especially among prokaryotes,
raises interesting and important scientific questions regarding its effects on the human …