Browsing by Author "Sommer, Andrei P."

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    Functions and possible provenance of primordial proteins
    (American Chemical Society, 2004-11-17) Sommer, Andrei P.; Miyake, Norimune; Wickramasinghe, N. C.; et al.
    Nanobacteria or living nanovesicles are of great interest to the scientific community because of their dual nature: on the one hand, they appear as primal biosystems originating life; on the other hand, they can cause severe diseases. Their survival as well as their pathogenic potential is apparently linked to a self-synthesized protein-based slime, rich in calcium and phosphate (when available). Here, we provide challenging evidence for the occurrence of nanobacteria in the stratosphere, reflecting a possibly primordial provenance of the slime. An analysis of the slime’s biological functions may lead to novel strategies suitable to block adhesion modalities in modern bacterial populations.