@article{KruegerFriedrichFoersteretal.2012,
  author    = {Krueger, Beate and Friedrich, Torben and F{\"o}rster, Frank and Bernhardt, J{\"o}rg and Gross, Roy and Dandekar, Thomas},
  title     = {Different evolutionary modifications as a guide to rewire two-component systems},
  series = {Bioinformatics and Biology Insights},
  volume    = {6},
  journal   = {Bioinformatics and Biology Insights},
  doi       = {10.4137/BBI.S9356},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-123647},
  pages     = {97-128},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {Two-component systems (TCS) are short signalling pathways generally occurring in prokaryotes. They frequently regulate prokaryotic stimulus responses and thus are also of interest for engineering in biotechnology and synthetic biology. The aim of this study is to better understand and describe rewiring of TCS while investigating different evolutionary scenarios. Based on large-scale screens of TCS in different organisms, this study gives detailed data, concrete alignments, and structure analysis on three general modification scenarios, where TCS were rewired for new responses and functions: (i) exchanges in the sequence within single TCS domains, (ii) exchange of whole TCS domains; (iii) addition of new components modulating TCS function. As a result, the replacement of stimulus and promotor cassettes to rewire TCS is well defined exploiting the alignments given here. The diverged TCS examples are non-trivial and the design is challenging. Designed connector proteins may also be useful to modify TCS in selected cases.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{RatzkaFoersterLiangetal.2012,
  author    = {Ratzka, Carolin and F{\"o}rster, Frank and Liang, Chunguang and Kupper, Maria and Dandekar, Thomas and Feldhaar, Heike and Gross, Roy},
  title     = {Molecular characterization of antimicrobial peptide genes of the carpenter ant Camponotus floridanus},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-75985},
  year      = {2012},
  abstract  = {The production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a major defense mechanism against pathogen infestation and of particular importance for insects relying exclusively on an innate immune system. Here, we report on the characterization of three AMPs from the carpenter ant Camponotus floridanus. Due to sequence similarities and amino acid composition these peptides can be classified into the cysteine-rich (e.g. defensin) and glycine-rich (e.g. hymenoptaecin) AMP groups, respectively. The gene and cDNA sequences of these AMPs were established and their expression was shown to be induced by microbial challenge. We characterized two different defensin genes. The defensin-2 gene has a single intron, whereas the defensin-1 gene has two introns. The deduced amino acid sequence of the C. floridanus defensins is very similar to other known ant defensins with the exception of a short C-terminal extension of defensin-1. The hymenoptaecin gene has a single intron and a very peculiar domain structure. The corresponding precursor protein consists of a signal- and a pro-sequence followed by a hymenoptaecin-like domain and six directly repeated hymenoptaecin domains. Each of the hymenoptaecin domains is flanked by an EAEP-spacer sequence and a RR-site known to be a proteolytic processing site. Thus, proteolytic processing of the multipeptide precursor may generate several mature AMPs leading to an amplification of the immune response. Bioinformatical analyses revealed the presence of hymenoptaecin genes with similar multipeptide precursor structure in genomes of other ant species suggesting an evolutionary conserved important role of this gene in ant immunity.},
  subject      = {Biologie},
  language  = {en}
}