A new family of bacterial ribosome hibernation factors. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38355796/)

These scientists wanted to understand how certain bacteria protect themselves when they are in stressful situations, like when it's very cold or when they don't have enough food. To do this, they studied a type of bacteria called Psychrobacter urativorans that lives in very cold environments.

They used a special technique called cryogenic electron microscopy, which allows them to take very detailed pictures of tiny things like bacteria. They also looked at the genes and chemicals inside the bacteria to figure out how they work.

The scientists discovered a new protein called Balon in the bacteria, which helps the bacteria to slow down their protein-making process when they are stressed. Balon does this by attaching to a part of the bacteria's protein-making machinery called the ribosome.

What's interesting is that Balon works in a different way than other similar proteins found in bacteria. It can attach to the ribosome even when the ribosome is still making proteins, which is not what scientists expected. This discovery could change how we understand how bacteria protect themselves in tough situations.

The scientists also found that similar proteins to Balon exist in other types of bacteria, like Mycobacteria. This means that this mechanism of protecting the ribosomes during stress might be common among different types of bacteria, which is really cool!

Overall, this study helps us learn more about how bacteria survive in harsh conditions and could lead to new ways of studying and understanding how they adapt to different environments.

Helena-Bueno K., Rybak MY., Ekemezie CL., Sullivan R., Brown CR., Dingwall C., Basle A., Schneider C., Connolly JPR., Blaza JN., Csorgo B., Moynihan PJ., Gagnon MG., Hill CH., Melnikov SV. A new family of bacterial ribosome hibernation factors. Nature. 2024 Feb 14. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07041-8.