Krupovic Mart, Bamford Dennis H
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Institute of Biotechnology, Biocenter 2, PO Box 56, Viikinkaari 5, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
Mol Microbiol. 2008 Aug;69(4):781-3. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06335.x. Epub 2008 Jun 28.
The length of the infection cycle of double-stranded DNA bacteriophages is controlled by phage-encoded small integral membrane proteins, holins. Holins are the gatekeepers of the lysis process, possessing an intriguing ability to be triggered, at a precise time point, to form large holes in the cytoplasmic membrane of phage-infected bacteria. The paper by Savva et al. in this issue of Molecular Microbiology invites us to take a closer look at this membrane lesion. For the first time, a structural characterization of large-diameter rings formed by these peculiar membrane proteins is presented.
双链DNA噬菌体的感染周期长度由噬菌体编码的小型整合膜蛋白——穿孔素控制。穿孔素是裂解过程的守门人，具有在精确时间点被触发，在噬菌体感染细菌的细胞质膜上形成大洞的有趣能力。萨瓦等人在本期《分子微生物学》上发表的论文邀请我们更仔细地观察这种膜损伤。首次对这些特殊膜蛋白形成的大直径环进行了结构表征。
