New Hot Paper Comment by Dr. Tracy Palmer, Dr. Frank Sargent & Dr. Ben Berks

Dr. Tracy Palmer answers a few questions about this month's new hot paper in field of Microbiology.

From •>>MARCH 2002

Field: Microbiology
by Palmer, T
Article Title: "The Tat protein export pathway"
Authors: Berks, BC;Sargent, F; Palmer, T
Journal: MOL MICROBIOL
Volume: 35
Page: 260-274
Year: JAN 2000
* Univ E Anglia, Sch Biol Sci, Ctr Met Prot Spect & Biol, Norwich NR4 7TJ, Norfolk, England.
* Univ E Anglia, Sch Biol Sci, Ctr Met Prot Spect & Biol, Norwich NR4 7TJ, Norfolk, England.
* John Innes Ctr Plant Sci Res, Dept Mol Microbiol, Norwich NR4 7UH, Norfolk, England.

Why do you think your paper is highly cited Top to bottom: Dr Tracy Palmer, Dr. Frank Sargent, Dr. Ben Berks

I think it is highly cited because it is one of the first reviews on the bacterial Tat system.

Is it a condensation of previous literature on the subject?

It is a pulling together of the literature, with some speculation about how the transport system works and where future research in the area will go.

Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

Many of the proteins synthesized by bacteria are exported from the cell, and this is a critical process for growth, survival, and infection. Recently a new type of protein export system has been discovered, and has been designated the Tat pathway. This paper summarizes what is known about the structure and function of the Tat transporter and its significance to the physiology of the bacterium.

Dr Tracy Palmer
Royal Society Research Fellow
Department of Molecular Microbiology
John Innes Centre Colney Lane
Norwich NR4 7UH UK

ESI Special Topics, March 2002
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/nhp/comments/march-02-TracyPalmer.html