Year: 1985
Type: article
Abstract: We have reported previously on the presence of vertebrate-type peptide hormones in Tetrahymena pyriformis and Escherichia coli. We now have examined other prokaryotes for immunologically detectable insulin-like material. The bacteria studied were E. coli, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus RAG-1, Bordetella pertussis and Halobacteria solinarium; they were grown in defined minimal salt media under varying growth conditions. All these bacteria contain insulin-related material (1–12 pg per g cell wet wt). No insulin immunoactivity was detected in the media prior to inoculation. The content of insulin-related material was not affected by the carbon source used for cell growth. These data are in good agreement with data published previously, and suggest that prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes are capable of producing hormone-like material; the function of these peptides, if any, is as yet unknown.
Source: FEMS Microbiology Letters
Authors: Chaim Rubinovitz, Joseph Shiloach
Institution: National Institutes of Health
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1973437590