The exocyst is a eukaryotic tethering complex necessary for the fusion of exocytic vesicles with the plasma membrane. Its function in vivo is tightly regulated by interactions with multiple small GTPases. Exo70, one of the eight subunits of the exocyst, is important for the localization of the exocyst to the plasma membrane. It interacts with TC10 and Rho3 GTPases in mammals and yeast, respectively, and has been shown recently to bind to the actin-polymerization complex Arp2/3. Here, we present the crystal structure of Mus musculus Exo70 at 2.25 A resolution. Exo70 is composed of alpha-helices in a series of right-handed helix-turn-helix motifs organized into a long rod of length 170 A and width 35 A. Although the alpha-helical organization of this molecule is similar to that in Saccharomyces cerevisiae Exo70, major structural differences are observed on the surface of the molecule, at the domain boundaries, and in various loop structures. In particular, the C-terminal domain of M. musculus Exo70 adopts a new orientation relative to the N-terminal half not seen in S. cerevisiae Exo70 structures. Given the low level of sequence conservation within Exo70, this structure provides new insights into our understanding of many species-specific functions of the exocyst.

Trigger factor is a molecular chaperone that is present in all species of eubacteria. It binds to the ribosomal 50S subunit near the translation exit tunnel and is thought to be the first protein to interact with nascent polypeptides emerging from the ribosome. The chaperone has a peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase (PPIase) activity that catalyzes the rate-limiting proline isomerization in the protein-folding process. We have determined the crystal structure of nearly full-length trigger factor from Vibrio cholerae by x-ray crystallography at 2.5-Å resolution. The structure is composed of two trigger-factor molecules related by a noncrystallographic twofold symmetry axis. The monomer has an elongated shape and is folded into three domains: an N-terminal domain I that binds to the ribosome, a central domain II that contains PPIase activity, and a C-terminal domain III. The active site of the PPIase domain is occupied by a loop from domain III, suggesting that the PPIase activity of the protein could be regulated. The dimer interface is formed between domains I and III and contains residues of mixed properties. Further implications about dimerization, ribosome binding, and other functions of trigger factor are discussed.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility profile of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from different animal species with septic ocular surface disease. Sixteen strains of P. aeruginosa were isolated from different species of animals (dog, cat, horse, penguin and brown bear) with ocular surface diseases such as conjunctivitis, keratocojnuctivits sicca and ulcerative keratitis. These isolates were tested against 11 different antimicrobials agents using the Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined using E-tests for two antibiotics (tobramycin and ciprofloxacin) commonly used in veterinary ophthalmology practice. Imipenem was the most effective antibiotic, with 100% of the strains being susceptible, followed by amikacin (87.5%), gentamicin, norfloxacin, gatifloxacin and polymyxin (both with 81.5%of susceptibility). MIC90 of ciprofloxacin was 2 µg/ml and the values found ranged from 0.094 µg/ml to 32 µg/ml. For tobramycin, MIC90 was 32 µg/ml and ranged from 0.25 µg/ml to 256 µg/ml. The most effective in vitro antibiotic tested against P. aeruginosa in this study was imipenem, followed by amikacin. The 3 mg/ml eye drops commercially available ciprofloxacin presentations were in vitro effective against all strains tested in this study if applied up to 4 hours after instillation. Whereas for tobramycin the 3 mg/ml eye drops commercial presentations were not in vitro effective against some strains isolated in this study. Thus for ocular infections with P. aeruginosa when using tobramycin the ideal recommendation would be to either use eye drops with higher concentrations or decrease the frequency intervals from four to a minimum of every two hours.

Peptidoglycan transpeptidase activity has been studied in cells of Escherichia coli 146 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 56 made permeable to exogenous, nucleotide-sugar peptidoglycan precursors by ether treatment. Transpeptidase activity was inhibited, in both organisms, by a range of penicillins and cephalosporins, the Pseudomonas enzyme being more sensitive to inhibition in each case. Conversely, growth of E. coli 146 was more susceptible to these antibiotics than growth of P. aeruginosa 56. Furthermore, similar transpeptidase inhibition values were obobtained for the four penicillins examined against the Pseudomonas enzyme, although only two of these (carbenicillin and pirbenicillin) inhibited the growth of this organism. We therefore conclude that the high resistance of P. aeruginosa The target site of penicillins is thought to be the enzyme peptidoglycan transpeptidase (18), which catalyzes the final reaction in bacterial cell wall biosynthesis, i.e., the formation of an interpeptide linkage between the amino acid side chains of the peptidoglycan polymer (1). This enzymatic reaction has been shown to occur in both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (2,5,9,10,21), and is thought to be common to most, if not all, bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa however, is characteristically resistant to the majority of /-lactam antibiotics (15 Preparation of UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide.