SemiSWEETs and SWEETs are mono- and disaccharide transporters present from Archaea to higher plants and humans1-3. SWEETs play crucial roles in cellular sugar efflux processes, i.e. phloem loading4, pollen nutrition5 and nectar secretion6. Their bacterial homologs, SemiSWEETs, are among the smallest known transporters1,3. Here we show SemiSWEET, consisting of a triple-helix-bundle (THB), forms a symmetric parallel dimer to create the translocation pathway. Two SemiSWEET isoforms were crystallized in apparent open and occluded states, indicating that SemiSWEETs/SWEETs are transporters that undergo rocking-type movements during the transport cycle. The topology of THB is similar to the basic building block in MFS transporters (GLUTs, SUTs), indicating that they may have evolved from an ancestral THB into a parallel configuration to produce 6/6+1 transmembrane-helix pores for SemiSWEETs/SWEETs, and an antiparallel configuration of 2×2 THBs to generate 12 transmembrane-helix pores for MFS transporters. Given the similarity of SemiSWEETs/SWEETs to PQ-loop amino acid transporters and mitochondrial MPC organic acid transporters, the structures characterized here may also be relevant for other MtN3 clan transporters7-9.

Since its discovery in 2008, New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-1 (NDM-1)-producing Enterobacteriaceae have disseminated globally, facilitated predominantly by gut colonization and the spread of plasmids carrying the bla NDM-1 gene. With few effective antibiotics against NDM-1 producers, and resistance developing to those which remain, there is an urgent need to develop new treatments. To date, most drug design in this area has been focused on developing an NDM-1 inhibitor and has been aided by the wealth of structural and mechanistic information available from high resolution x-ray crystallography and molecular modeling. This review aims to summarize current knowledge regarding the detection of NDM-1 producers, the mechanism of action of NDM-1 and to highlight recent attempts toward the development of clinically useful inhibitors.

Interactions between physical forces and membrane proteins underpin many forms of environmental sensation and acclimation. Microbes survive osmotic stresses with the help of mechanically gated ion channels and osmolyte transporters. Plant mechanosensitive ion channels have been shown to function in defense signaling. Here, we engineered genetically encoded osmolality sensors (OzTracs) by fusing fluorescent protein spectral variants to the mechanosensitive ion channels MscL from E. coli or MSL10 from A. thaliana. When expressed in yeast cells, the OzTrac sensors reported osmolality changes as a proportional change in the emission ratio of the two fluorescent protein domains. Live-cell imaging revealed an accumulation of fluorescent sensors in internal aggregates, presumably derived from the endomembrane system. Thus, OzTrac sensors serve as osmolality-dependent reporters through an indirect mechanism, such as effects on molecular crowding or fluorophore solvation.