A family of related ATP-binding subunits coupled to many distinct biological processes in bacteria.
Higgins CF., Hiles ID., Salmond GP., Gill DR., Downie JA., Evans IJ., Holland IB., Gray L., Buckel SD., Bell AW.
Many biological processes are coupled to ATP hydrolysis. We describe here a class of closely related ATP-binding proteins, from several bacterial species, which are associated with a variety of cellular functions including membrane transport, cell division, nodulation in Rhizobium and haemolysin export. These proteins comprise a family of structurally and functionally related subunits which share a common evolutionary origin, bind ATP and probably serve to couple ATP hydrolysis to each of these biological processes. This finding suggests a specific role for ATP in cell division, nodulation during nitrogen fixation and protein export, and allows us to assign a probable function to one of the protein components from each of these systems.