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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Prof. Dabney Dixon, Georgia State University
Heme Uptake in Pathogenic Bacteria
Biochemistry Division Seminar Series
Many bacteria get some or all of their heme from the environment. The pathways for this uptake, varying from organism to organism, are not yet well understood. We study two bacteria: Streptococcus pyogenes (strep throat, âflash eating diseaseâ) and Corynebacterium diphtheriae (diphtheria). S. pyogenes obtains iron in part by heme uptake via the Sia (Hts) pathway. Heme is transferred from Shr to Shp to SiaA (part of an ABC transporter system). Shr has two heme-binding NEAT domains. Biophysical studies (including chemical denaturation, electrochemistry, NMR, MCD and Raman) of SiaA and both NEAT domains will be reported. Spectral signatures, sequence alignment and homology modeling for both domains have been used to assess the axial ligand possibilities. The uptake pathway in C. diphtheriae involves a pathway that has similarities to that in S. pyogenes but differs in many of the details. Characterization of the HmuT protein will be presented.
For more information contact Prof. Christoph Fahrni (404-385-1164).
