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Pilin
Pilin
refers to a class of fibrous
proteins
that are found in
pilus
structures in
bacteria
. Bacterial pili are used in the exchange of
genetic
material during
bacterial conjugation
, while a shorter type of appendages also made up of pilin, called
fimbria
e, are used as a
cell adhesion
mechanism. Although not all bacteria have pili or fimbriae, bacterial
pathogens
often use their fimbriae to attach to host cells. In
gram-negative
bacteria, where pili are more common, individual pilin molecules are linked by
noncovalent
protein-protein interactions
, while
gram-positive
bacteria often have
polymerized
pilin.
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