Structural characterisation of a natural inhibitor of sporulation bound to its histidine kinase target

许多细菌，包括一些致命的病原体，如炭疽(炭疽杆菌)，能够通过形成孢子(产孢子)进入休眠状态。这些孢子非常健壮，可能会在埋藏在土壤中的环境中存活数百年。孢子形成的开始是对威胁细菌自由复制存在的细胞和环境条件的变化的反应。产孢子的过程在分子水平上由一个复杂的信号转导系统控制。当然，严格控制产孢量对生物体的存在至关重要--除非在所希望的情况下，否则在任何情况下都能防止孢子形成。我们的目标是确定参与这一受调控过程的分子的三维结构，以及它们如何通过相互作用将信号传递给细菌，以启动或停止孢子形成过程。最终，这项工作的结果可能会导致抗菌剂的出现，这种抗菌剂可以用来控制特别危险的细菌菌株。

Many bacteria, including some which are virulent pathogens such as anthrax (Bacillus anthracis), are able to enter a dormant state by forming spores (sporulation). These spores are extremely robust and may persist in the environment buried in the soil for example for hundreds of years. The initiation of sporulation occurs in response to changes in the cellular and environmental conditions which threaten the free replicating existence of the bacterium. The process of sporulation is controlled at the molecular level by a complex signaling relay. It is of course vital for the existence of the organism that control of sporulation is tightly regulated - preventing the onset of spore-formation in any but the desired circumstances. We aim to determine the three-dimensional structures of the molecules involved in this regulated process and how, by interacting with each other, they can pass on the signal to the bacterium to either start or stop the spore forming process. Ultimately, the results of this work might lead to antibacterial agents which could be used to control particularly dangerous strains of bacteria.