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- Title
Bacillithiol is an antioxidant thiol produced in Bacilli.
- Authors
Newton, Gerald L.; Rawat, Mamta; La Clair, James J.; Jothivasan, Vishnu Karthik; Budiarto, Tanya; Hamilton, Chris J.; Claiborne, Al; Helmann, John D.; Fahey, Robert C.
- Abstract
Glutathione is a nearly ubiquitous, low-molecular-mass thiol and antioxidant, but it is conspicuously absent from most Gram-positive bacteria. We identify here the structure of bacillithiol, a newly described and abundant thiol produced by Bacillus species, Staphylococcus aureus and Deinococcus radiodurans. Bacillithiol is the α-anomeric glycoside of L-cysteinyl-D-glucosamine with L-malic acid and most probably functions as an antioxidant. Bacillithiol, like the structurally similar mycothiol, may serve as a substitute for glutathione.
- Subjects
ANTIOXIDANTS; CHEMICAL inhibitors; GRAM-positive bacteria; BACTERIA; ACTINOBACTERIA; PROKARYOTES; FUNGUS-bacterium relationships; ANTIBIOTICS
- Publication
Nature Chemical Biology, 2009, Vol 5, Issue 9, p625
- ISSN
1552-4450
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/nchembio.189