microLife最新文献

{"title":"Recent advances and perspectives in nucleotide second messenger signaling in bacteria.","authors":"Regine Hengge,&nbsp;Mihaela Pruteanu,&nbsp;Jörg Stülke,&nbsp;Natalia Tschowri,&nbsp;Kürşad Turgay","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nucleotide second messengers act as intracellular 'secondary' signals that represent environmental or cellular cues, i.e. the 'primary' signals. As such, they are linking sensory input with regulatory output in all living cells. The amazing physiological versatility, the mechanistic diversity of second messenger synthesis, degradation, and action as well as the high level of integration of second messenger pathways and networks in prokaryotes has only recently become apparent. In these networks, specific second messengers play conserved general roles. Thus, (p)ppGpp coordinates growth and survival in response to nutrient availability and various stresses, while c-di-GMP is <i>the</i> nucleotide signaling molecule to orchestrate bacterial adhesion and multicellularity. c-di-AMP links osmotic balance and metabolism and that it does so even in Archaea may suggest a very early evolutionary origin of second messenger signaling. Many of the enzymes that make or break second messengers show complex sensory domain architectures, which allow multisignal integration. The multiplicity of c-di-GMP-related enzymes in many species has led to the discovery that bacterial cells are even able to use the same freely diffusible second messenger in local signaling pathways that can act in parallel without cross-talking. On the other hand, signaling pathways operating with different nucleotides can intersect in elaborate signaling networks. Apart from the small number of common signaling nucleotides that bacteria use for controlling their cellular \"business,\" diverse nucleotides were recently found to play very specific roles in phage defense. Furthermore, these systems represent the phylogenetic ancestors of cyclic nucleotide-activated immune signaling in eukaryotes.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad015"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/66/33/uqad015.PMC10118264.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9522018","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Small regulatory RNAs in <i>Vibrio cholerae</i>.","authors":"Rabea Ghandour,&nbsp;Kai Papenfort","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Vibrio cholerae</i> is a major human pathogen causing the diarrheal disease, cholera. Regulation of virulence in <i>V. cholerae</i> is a multifaceted process involving gene expression changes at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional level. Whereas various transcription factors have been reported to modulate virulence in <i>V. cholerae</i>, small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) have now been established to also participate in virulence control and the regulation of virulence-associated processes, such as biofilm formation, quorum sensing, stress response, and metabolism. In most cases, these sRNAs act by base-pairing with multiple target transcripts and this process typically requires the aid of an RNA-binding protein, such as the widely conserved Hfq protein. This review article summarizes the functional roles of sRNAs in <i>V. cholerae</i>, their underlying mechanisms of gene expression control, and how sRNAs partner with transcription factors to modulate complex regulatory programs. In addition, we will discuss regulatory principles discovered in <i>V. cholerae</i> that not only apply to other <i>Vibrio</i> species, but further extend into the large field of RNA-mediated gene expression control in bacteria.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad030"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/77/db/uqad030.PMC10335731.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9872402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"(p)ppGpp and moonlighting RNases influence the first step of lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis in <i>Escherichia coli</i>.","authors":"Simon Brückner,&nbsp;Fabian Müller,&nbsp;Laura Schadowski,&nbsp;Tyll Kalle,&nbsp;Sophia Weber,&nbsp;Emily C Marino,&nbsp;Blanka Kutscher,&nbsp;Anna-Maria Möller,&nbsp;Sabine Adler,&nbsp;Dominik Begerow,&nbsp;Wieland Steinchen,&nbsp;Gert Bange,&nbsp;Franz Narberhaus","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad031","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The outer membrane (OM) protects Gram-negative bacteria from harsh environmental conditions and provides intrinsic resistance to many antimicrobial compounds. The asymmetric OM is characterized by phospholipids in the inner leaflet and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) in the outer leaflet. Previous reports suggested an involvement of the signaling nucleotide ppGpp in cell envelope homeostasis in <i>Escherichia coli</i>. Here, we investigated the effect of ppGpp on OM biosynthesis. We found that ppGpp inhibits the activity of LpxA, the first enzyme of LPS biosynthesis, in a fluorometric <i>in vitro</i> assay. Moreover, overproduction of LpxA resulted in elongated cells and shedding of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) with altered LPS content. These effects were markedly stronger in a ppGpp-deficient background. We further show that RnhB, an RNase H isoenzyme, binds ppGpp, interacts with LpxA, and modulates its activity. Overall, our study uncovered new regulatory players in the early steps of LPS biosynthesis, an essential process with many implications in the physiology and susceptibility to antibiotics of Gram-negative commensals and pathogens.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad031"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/ba/10/uqad031.PMC10326835.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9866291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cyclic di-AMP, a multifaceted regulator of central metabolism and osmolyte homeostasis in <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i>.","authors":"Inge Schwedt,&nbsp;Mengyi Wang,&nbsp;Johannes Gibhardt,&nbsp;Fabian M Commichau","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cyclic di-AMP is an emerging second messenger that is synthesized by many archaea and bacteria, including the Gram-positive pathogenic bacterium <i>Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria monocytogenes</i> played a crucial role in elucidating the essential function of c-di-AMP, thereby becoming a model system for studying c-di-AMP metabolism and the influence of the nucleotide on cell physiology. c-di-AMP is synthesized by a diadenylate cyclase and degraded by two phosphodiesterases. To date, eight c-di-AMP receptor proteins have been identified in <i>L. monocytogenes</i>, including one that indirectly controls the uptake of osmotically active peptides and thus the cellular turgor. The functions of two c-di-AMP-receptor proteins still need to be elucidated. Here, we provide an overview of c-di-AMP signalling in <i>L. monocytogenes</i> and highlight the main differences compared to the other established model systems in which c-di-AMP metabolism is investigated. Moreover, we discuss the most important questions that need to be answered to fully understand the role of c-di-AMP in osmoregulation and in the control of central metabolism.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad005"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/47/d0/uqad005.PMC10117814.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9516276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The New Microbiology: an international lecture course on the island of Spetses.","authors":"Pascale Cossart,&nbsp;Roberto Kolter,&nbsp;Bruno Lemaitre,&nbsp;Athanasios Typas","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqac026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqac026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In September 2022, an international summer course entitled 'The new microbiology' took place in Greece, on the island of Spetses. The organizers aimed to highlight the spectacular advances and the renaissance occurring in Microbiology, driven by developments in genomics, proteomics, imaging techniques, and bioinformatics. Combinations of these advances allow for single cell analyses, rapid and relatively inexpensive metagenomic and transcriptomic data analyses and comparisons, visualization of previously unsuspected mechanisms, and large-scale studies. A 'New Microbiology' is emerging which allows studies that address the critical roles of microbes in health and disease, in humans, animals, and the environment. The concept of one health is now transforming microbiology. The goal of the course was to discuss all these topics with members of the new generation of microbiologists all of whom were highly motivated and fully receptive.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqac026"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10212125/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9545272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dear <i>Listeria</i>, what is your preferred niche?","authors":"Sarah Wettstadt","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad004","url":null,"abstract":"Seeing Pascale Cossart in one of her many science outreach videos online, one can usually recognize two major features: a lot of scientific expertise and a big smile. Both stem from her experience of being a microbiologist and her passion for the field. After her PhD in chemistry at the University of Paris, Pascale came across the microbial world by studying protein–DNA interactions. She learned about microbial physiology and started to study how microbes interact with their hosts. She then got more and more fascinated by microbes and the fact that they ‘are not only everywhere, but they are absolutely critical for the equilibrium of the human body, animals, plants, insects and the environment’. From early on, Pascale decided to focus on the Gram-positive pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, which can live silently in the gastro-intestinal tract of some healthy humans. However, in immuno-compromised people, newborns, elderly, or pregnant women, it can lead to severe infections and meningitis, encephalitis, or even miscarriage. Pascale was the first to sequence the hlyA gene, which encodes listeriolysin O—a major virulence factor— in Listeria. Together with her team, Pascale then discovered internalin, the protein that allows Listeria to enter mammalian cells, as well as its receptor on mammalian cells, the protein E-cadherin. She then became interested in how Listeria would enter host cells, and she identified many important key molecules whose role in bacterial cell entry had never been suspected. Her work on Listeria specificity for human cells versus murine was remarkable and led to the generation of a transgenic animal model for human listeriosis. As an early-stage Professor at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, Pascale made a discovery that ‘triggered a whole tsunami in the field’. She discovered the mechanisms of how L. monocytogenes uses the actin of a host to move and spread across tissue. Once inside the cytosol of the host cell, the bacterial surface protein ActA nucleates and polymerizes actin and recruits other proteins to these actin filaments (Kocks et al. 1992). Through this polymerization process, ActA triggers the formation of long actin tails and ultimately of bacteria-containing membrane protrusions. These help L. monocytogenes contact and enter neighbouring cells without ever leaving the host cytosol (Lecuit et al. 2001). Thanks to growing techniques like fluorescence microscopy, Pascale and her team managed to visualize these microbe-induced processes and establish herself in the field of infection microbiology.","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad004"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/1d/26/uqad004.PMC10117850.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9516278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From an Hsp90 - binding protein to a peptide drug.","authors":"Aparna Viswanathan Ammanath,&nbsp;Anders Jarneborn,&nbsp;Minh-Thu Nguyen,&nbsp;Laura Wessling,&nbsp;Paula Tribelli,&nbsp;Mulugeta Nega,&nbsp;Christian Beck,&nbsp;Arif Luqman,&nbsp;Khaled A Selim,&nbsp;Hubert Kalbacher,&nbsp;Boris Macek,&nbsp;Sandra Beer Hammer,&nbsp;Tao Jin,&nbsp;Friedrich Götz","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqac023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqac023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Lpl proteins represent a class of lipoproteins that was first described in the opportunistic bacterial pathogen <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, where they contribute to pathogenicity by enhancing F-actin levels of host epithelial cells and thereby increasing <i>S. aureus</i> internalization. The model Lpl protein, Lpl1 was shown to interact with the human heat shock proteins Hsp90α and Hsp90ß, suggesting that this interaction may trigger all observed activities. Here we synthesized Lpl1-derived peptides of different lengths and identified two overlapping peptides, namely, L13 and L15, which interacted with Hsp90α. Unlike Lpl1, the two peptides not only decreased F-actin levels and <i>S. aureus</i> internalization in epithelial cells but they also decreased phagocytosis by human CD14⁺ monocytes. The well-known Hsp90 inhibitor, geldanamycin, showed a similar effect. The peptides not only interacted directly with Hsp90α, but also with the mother protein Lpl1. While L15 and L13 significantly decreased lethality of <i>S. aureus</i> bacteremia in an insect model, geldanamycin did not. In a mouse bacteremia model L15 was found to significantly decreased weight loss and lethality. Although the molecular bases of the L15 effect is still elusive, <i>in vitro</i> data indicate that simultaneous treatment of host immune cells with L15 or L13 and <i>S. aureus</i> significantly increase IL-6 production. L15 and L13 represent not antibiotics but they cause a significant reduction in virulence of multidrug-resistant <i>S. aureus</i> strains in <i>in vivo</i> models. In this capacity, they can be an important drug alone or additive with other agents.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqac023"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10117725/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9518991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Different culture media and purification methods unveil the core proteome of <i>Propionibacterium freudenreichii</i>-derived extracellular vesicles.","authors":"Vinícius de Rezende Rodovalho,&nbsp;Brenda Silva Rosa da Luz,&nbsp;Aurélie Nicolas,&nbsp;Julien Jardin,&nbsp;Valérie Briard-Bion,&nbsp;Edson Luiz Folador,&nbsp;Anderson Rodrigues Santos,&nbsp;Gwénaël Jan,&nbsp;Yves Le Loir,&nbsp;Vasco Ariston de Carvalho Azevedo,&nbsp;Éric Guédon","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad029","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural lipidic nanoparticles implicated in intercellular communication. Although EV research focused mainly on pathogens, the interest in probiotic-derived EVs is now rising. One example is <i>Propionibacterium freudenreichii</i>, which produces EVs with anti-inflammatory effects on human epithelial cells. Our previous study with <i>P. freudenreichii</i> showed that EVs purified by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) displayed variations in protein content according to bacterial growth conditions. Considering these content variations, we hypothesized that a comparative proteomic analysis of EVs recovered in different conditions would elucidate whether a representative vesicular proteome existed, possibly providing a robust proteome dataset for further analysis. Therefore, <i>P. freudenreichii</i> was grown in two culture media, and EVs were purified by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation (UC). Microscopic and size characterization confirmed EV purification, while shotgun proteomics unveiled that they carried a diverse set of proteins. A comparative analysis of the protein content of UC- and SEC-derived EVs, isolated from cultures either in UF (cow milk ultrafiltrate medium) or YEL (laboratory yeast extract lactate medium), showed that EVs from all these conditions shared 308 proteins. This EV core proteome was notably enriched in proteins related to immunomodulation. Moreover, it showed distinctive features, including highly interacting proteins, compositional biases for some specific amino acids, and other biochemical parameters. Overall, this work broadens the toolset for the purification of <i>P. freudenreichii</i>-derived EVs, identifies a representative vesicular proteome, and enumerates conserved features in vesicular proteins. These results hold the potential for providing candidate biomarkers of purification quality, and insights into the mechanisms of EV biogenesis and cargo sorting.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad029"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/57/2b/uqad029.PMC10265600.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9656045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The eukaryome of African children is influenced by geographic location, gut biogeography, and nutritional status.","authors":"Pascale Vonaesch,&nbsp;Vincent Billy,&nbsp;Allison E Mann,&nbsp;Evan Morien,&nbsp;Azimdine Habib,&nbsp;Jean-Marc Collard,&nbsp;Michel Dédé,&nbsp;Nathalie Kapel,&nbsp;Philippe J Sansonetti,&nbsp;Laura Wegener Parfrey","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Eukaryotes have historically been studied as parasites, but recent evidence suggests they may be indicators of a healthy gut ecosystem. Here, we describe the eukaryome along the gastrointestinal tract of children aged 2-5 years and test for associations with clinical factors such as anaemia, intestinal inflammation, chronic undernutrition, and age. Children were enrolled from December 2016 to May 2018 in Bangui, Central African Republic and Antananarivo, Madagascar. We analyzed a total of 1104 samples representing 212 gastric, 187 duodenal, and 705 fecal samples using a metabarcoding approach targeting the full ITS2 region for fungi, and the V4 hypervariable region of the 18S rRNA gene for the overall eukaryome. Roughly, half of all fecal samples showed microeukaryotic reads. We find high intersubject variability, only a handful of taxa that are likely residents of the gastrointestinal tract, and frequent co-occurrence of eukaryotes within an individual. We also find that the eukaryome differs between the stomach, duodenum, and feces and is strongly influenced by country of origin. Our data show trends towards higher levels of <i>Fusarium equiseti</i>, a mycotoxin producing fungus, and lower levels of the protist <i>Blastocystis</i> in stunted children compared to nonstunted controls. Overall, the eukaryome is poorly correlated with clinical variables. Our study is of one of the largest cohorts analyzing the human intestinal eukaryome to date and the first to compare the eukaryome across different compartments of the gastrointestinal tract. Our results highlight the importance of studying populations across the world to uncover common features of the eukaryome in health.</p>","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad033"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10481997/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10186521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The symbolic power of nucleotide second messengers - or how prokaryotes link sensing and responding to their outside world.","authors":"Regine Hengge","doi":"10.1093/femsml/uqad036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad036","url":null,"abstract":"Editorial Nucleotide second messengers are k e y components of molecular information processing pathways and networks that allow bacteria and archaea to navigate and adapt to an e v er c hanging exter-nal world. Being produced and/or degraded by often membrane-associated enzymes that can sense and react to environmental or cellular changes, the intracellular second messenger molecules are in turn sensed by cellular effectors—usually proteins or protein domains , sometimes ribos witc hes—that trigger dir ectl y associated target systems to produce specific molecular reactions. T hus , second messengers are informational molecules, which stand as intracellular molecular symbols or signs for something else, namel y, some potentiall y life-thr eatening condition, and which inform the executive machinery of the cell that an a ppr o-priate ada ptiv e r esponse is ur gentl y needed. It is pr obabl y not accidental that two major classes of intracellular molecules with symbolic functions are both deri vati ves of n ucleotides although there is a clear functional division of labour between them. The nucleotide polymers DNA and RNA function in the stor a ge and ef-fectuation of genetic information that has to be maintained over long times. By constrast, nucleotide second messengers are tiny RNAs, which consist only of one or two, often cyclic nucleotides, that have to transiently represent environmental or cellular states in real time . T his requires high dynamics of second messenger pr oduction and degr adation by specific enzymes whose expr es-sion and activity has to be tightl y contr olled by sensory input. It is likely that second messenger signaling is the evolutionary oldest form of molecular information processing, rudimentary forms of which ma y ha ve already evolved in the early RN A w orld. The cur-r ent pictur e of second messenger signaling in Pr okary otes, ho we","PeriodicalId":74189,"journal":{"name":"microLife","volume":"4 ","pages":"uqad036"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/66/13/uqad036.PMC10449370.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10099795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}