The xylem-limited bacterium Xylella fastidiosa is the causal agent of several plant diseases, most notably Pierce's disease of grape and citrus variegated chlorosis. We report the isolation and cha...

Haloalkane dehalogenases are microbial enzymes that catalyze cleavage of the carbon-halogen bond by a hydrolytic mechanism. Until recently, these enzymes have been isolated only from bacteria livin...

The present review considered: (a) the factors that conditioned the early transition from non-life to life; (b) genome structure and complexity in prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and organelles; (c) compa...

Plant health and productivity is strongly influenced by their intimate interaction with deleterious and beneficial organisms, including microbes, and insects. Of the various plant diseases, insect-...

The presence of Supressor of variegation-Enhanser of zeste-Trithorax (SET) domain genes in bacteria is a current paradigm for lateral genetic exchange between eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Because a ...

The species from the order Xanthomonadales, which harbors many important plant pathogens and some human pathogens, are currently distinguished primarily on the basis of their branching in the 16S r...

Evolution of new complex biological behaviour tends to arise by novel combinations of existing building blocks. The functional and evolutionary building blocks of the proteome are protein domains, ...