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Compartmentalizing acid stress in bacteria

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A Donnan equilibrium causes an influx of chloride ions into the Escherichia coli periplasm when the bacterium finds itself in gastric fluid. The combination of low pH and high anion concentration drives proteins to aggregate, a potentially lethal event unless prevented by specific chaperones.

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Fig. 1: Orally ingested, commensal Escherichia coli must first survive the acidic environment of the stomach before settling in the large intestine.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Colin Kleanthous

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  1. Colin Kleanthous
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Correspondence to Colin Kleanthous.

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Kleanthous, C. Compartmentalizing acid stress in bacteria. Nat Chem Biol 14, 993–994 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-018-0148-7

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