L. A. Simmons

Structural and biochemical characterization of the mitomycin C repair exonuclease MrfB

The paper characterizes MrfB, a DEDDh exonuclease involved in repairing mitomycin C-induced DNA damage in Bacillus subtilis, revealing its structural and biochemical properties.

Two Distinct Regulatory Systems Control Pulcherrimin Biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis

This paper identifies two regulatory systems involving ScoC, AbrB, and PchR that control pulcherrimin biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis, showing their combined necessity to limit its production.

Bacillus subtilis encodes a discrete flap endonuclease that cleaves RNA-DNA hybrids

This study shows that FEN, not Pol I, is the primary 5' nuclease for RNA primer removal in B. subtilis during Okazaki fragment processing.

A bacterial DNA repair pathway specific to a natural antibiotic

The paper identifies a mitomycin C-specific DNA repair pathway in Bacillus subtilis involving MrfA and MrfB, showing its conservation and adaptation to antibiotic resistance.

DdcA antagonizes a bacterial DNA damage checkpoint

This paper identifies DdcA as a regulator of the bacterial DNA damage checkpoint, showing it antagonizes YneA activity independently of proteolysis, challenging the existing model of checkpoint regulation.

Cryptic adaptor protein interactions regulate DNA replication initiation

This study identifies cryptic protein interactions essential for DNA replication initiation by mapping interactions between DnaA, its adaptors, and the helicase in bacteria.