Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24951779›Full record

ArticleApplied and environmental microbiology2014

TgaA, a VirB1-like component belonging to a putative type IV secretion system of Bifidobacterium bifidum MIMBb75.

Simone Guglielmetti, Silvia Balzaretti, Valentina Taverniti, Matteo Miriani, Christian Milani, Alessio Scarafoni, Silvia Corona, Alessandro Ciranna, Stefania Arioli, Ville Santala and 5 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Applied and environmental microbiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The type IV secretion system ofMicrobial genomics · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Identification of a prototype human gutFrontiers in microbiology · 2023
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Lytic transglycosylases: concinnity in concision of the bacterial cell wall.Critical reviews in biochemistry and molecular biology · 2017
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Discovery of a conjugative megaplasmid in Bifidobacterium breve.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2015
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Simone GuglielmettiDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy simone.guglielmetti@unimi.it.
Silvia BalzarettiDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Valentina TavernitiDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Matteo MirianiDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Christian MilaniLaboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Alessio ScarafoniDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Silvia CoronaIRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy.
Alessandro CirannaDepartment of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland.
Stefania ArioliDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Ville SantalaDepartment of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland.
Stefania IamettiDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Francesco BonomiDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Marco VenturaLaboratory of Probiogenomics, Department of Life Sciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Diego MoraDepartment of Food Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Matti KarpDepartment of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland.
University of Milan · ITTampere University · FIUniversity of Parma · ITIstituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Bifidobacterium bifidum MIMBb75 is a human intestinal isolate demonstrated to be interactive with the host and efficacious as a probiotic. However, the molecular biology of this microorganism is yet largely unknown. For this reason, we undertook whole-genome sequencing of B. bifidum MIMBb75 to identify potential genetic factors that would explain the metabolic and probiotic attributes of this bacterium. Comparative genomic analysis revealed a 45-kb chromosomal region that comprises 19 putative genes coding for a potential type IV secretion system (T4SS). Thus, we undertook the initial characterization of this genetic region by studying the putative virB1-like gene, named tgaA. Gene tgaA encodes a peptidoglycan lytic enzyme containing two active domains: lytic murein transglycosylase (LT, cd00254.3) and cysteine- and histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase (CHAP, pfam05257.4). By means of several in vitro assays, we experimentally confirmed that protein TgaA, consistent with its computationally assigned role, has peptidoglycan lytic activity, which is principally associated to the LT domain. Furthermore, immunofluorescence and immunogold labeling showed that the protein TgaA is abundantly expressed on the cell surface of B. bifidum MIMBb75. According to the literature, the T4SSs, which have not been characterized before in bifidobacteria, can have important implications for bacterial cell-to-cell communication as well as cross talk with host cells, justifying the interest for further studies aimed at the investigation of this genetic region.

Indexed as

Genome, BacterialSequence Analysis, DNABacterial Secretion SystemsBifidobacteriumDNA, BacterialGenes, BacterialHydrolysisMolecular Sequence DataPeptidoglycanBacterial Secretion SystemsDNA, BacterialPeptidoglycan

Identifiers

PMID24951779
PMCPMC4136095
OpenAlexW2113350394

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.