Inteins Current Biology Christopher W. Lennon, Marlene Belfort  Current Biology  Volume 27, Issue 6, Pages R204-R206 (March 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.01.016 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Global view of inteins. (A) Mechanism of protein splicing: the four-step mechanism shown is for class 1 inteins with cysteines as the nucleophiles in both position 1 and +1. The N-extein is blue, intein is red, and C-extein is green, with other features listed. (B) Intein applications: the uses of inteins in biotechnology and as potential antimicrobials are listed. (C) Intein distribution in nature. Left: Inteins are found in all three domains of life, with the percentages shown being the fraction of sequenced genomes in each domain that contain an intein. Right: Percentage of inteins in bacteria and archaea found in replication, recombination, and repair (RRR) proteins. (D) Natural examples of conditional protein splicing: environmental cues that regulate protein splicing range from solution conditions, such as pH, redox, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) and salt, through temperature and DNA damage. Current Biology 2017 27, R204-R206DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2017.01.016) Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions