In bacteria, transcription complexes stalled on DNA represent a major source of roadblocks for the DNA replication machinery that must be removed in order to prevent damaging collisions. Gram-positive bacteria contain a transcription factor HelD that is able to remove and recycle stalled complexes, but it was not known how it performed this function. Here, using single particle cryo-electron microscopy, we have determined the structures of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase (RNAP) elongation and HelD complexes, enabling analysis of the conformational changes that occur in RNAP driven by HelD interaction. HelD has a 2-armed structure which penetrates deep into the primary and secondary channels of RNA polymerase. One arm removes nucleic acids from the active site, and the other induces a large conformational change in the primary channel leading to removal and recycling of the stalled polymerase, representing a novel mechanism for recycling transcription complexes in bacteria.

The management of P in agriculture must maximize the benefit to producers and minimize any adverse environmental effects. The latter arise from the loss of P from soil to standing freshwater. Even very small amounts of P can raise the concentration above the critical value for eutrophication. Such small quantities can be lost in eroded soil, in surface runoff and in drainage water. The relative importance of these pathways depends on many factors, including topography, rainfall, farming system, soil characteristics, and the bioavailability of the P that is lost. The success of agriculture in increasing food production to meet the increasing needs of humankind, especially since the 1950s, owes much to the use of P in fertilizers and animal feeds. What is now required is to ensure that P, a finite earth resource, is not wasted and that soils do not become so enriched with P that there is an unnecessary risk of too much P being carried to water from agricultural soils. The concept of taking account of critical soil P values to optimize the use of P in both fertilizer and manures is discussed here.

Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae are opportunistic pathogens frequently co-isolated from polymicrobial infections. The infections where these pathogens co-exist can be more severe and recalcitrant to therapy than infections caused by either species alone, however there is a lack of knowledge on their potential synergistic interactions. In this study we characterise the genomes of A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae strains co-isolated from a single human lung infection. We examine various aspects of their interactions through transcriptomic, phenomic and phenotypic assays that form a basis for understanding their effects on antimicrobial resistance and virulence during co-infection. Using co-culturing and analyses of secreted metabolites, we discover the ability of K. pneumoniae to cross-feed A. baumannii by-products of sugar fermentation. Minimum inhibitory concentration testing of mono- and co-cultures reveals the ability for A. baumannii to cross-protect K. pneumoniae against the cephalosporin, cefotaxime. Our study demonstrates distinct syntrophic interactions occur between A. baumannii and K. pneumoniae, helping to elucidate the basis for their co-existence in polymicrobial infections.

In bacteria, transcription complexes stalled on DNA represent a major source of roadblocks for the DNA replication machinery that must be removed in order to prevent damaging collisions. Gram-positive bacteria contain a transcription factor HelD that is able to remove and recycle stalled complexes, but it was not known how it performed this function. Here, using cryo-electron microscopy and single-particle analysis, we have determined the structures of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase (RNAP) elongation and HelD complexes, enabling analysis of the extraordinary conformational changes that occur in RNAP driven by HelD interaction. HelD has a unique 2-armed structure which penetrates deep into the primary and secondary channels of RNA polymerase. One arm removes nucleic acids from the active site, and the other induces a dramatic conformational change in the primary channel leading to removal and recycling of the stalled polymerase.

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