Credit: Matthew Redinbo, UNC Chapel Hill
Computer visualization of the atomic structure for the protein known as Nicking Enzyme for Staphylococcus (NES) that propagates the bacteria’s resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin. The large blue area, the active area of the protein known as relaxase, is bound to a DNA strand (orange chain with green subunits) that codes for resistance and has been processed for passage to another microbe. The red dot is a metal ion required to catalyze the process.