| Theme |
Topics in calcium and phosphate transport |
| Title |
A molecular fossil, polyphosphate, comes to life |
| Author |
Akio Kuroda |
Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University |
| [ Summary ] |
Inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) is a linear polymer composed of many hundreds of orthophosphate residues, linked by high-energy phosphoanhydride bonds. PolyP is found in every living thing. We found that polyP accumulated in response to amino acid starvation in Escherichia coli. PolyP formed a complex with the Lon protease and stimulated ribosomal protein degradation by the protease, thereby supplying the amino acids that are essential for survival and adaptation to amino acid starvation. |