Histidine triad nucleotide-binding (HinT) proteins are dimeric proteins tha
t bind to purines and are found in all three kingdoms: the eukarya, bacteri
a and archaea. In eukaryotes, HinT proteins have been detected intracellula
rly, but their function is unknown. Until now, knowledge about HinT protein
s in prokaryotes was restricted to sequence similarities and nucleotide-bin
ding studies. In this study, we provide evidence that, in the cell wall-les
s prokaryote, Mycoplasma hominis, the gene encoding the HinT protein forms
an operon with two other genes, These genes encode the species-specific mem
brane proteins, P60 and P80, which are associated within the mycoplasma mem
brane. The finding that HinT interacts with this complex by binding to pan
provides novel insight into the organization of bacterial HinT proteins.