Open Access

John Weston Payne, Mark W. Smith

• There has been no attempt to produce a comprehensive review of peptide transport by micro-organisms for over ten years. Prior to that, several reviews presented a balanced description of transport and utilization of peptides by micro-organisms. From this nutritional standpoint, the essential, complementary role played by intracellular peptidases was also considered. In addition, attention was devoted to the particular opportunities conferred by peptide uptake compared with amino-acid transport, and to the advantages in possession of both types of systems. Overall, these reviews presented a largely phenomenological description of a developing research area (Payne, 1975, 1976, 1980d; Payne and Gilvarg, 1978; Matthews and Payne, 1980). The present review is restricted to consideration of the process of peptide transport in micro-organisms. Reflecting the main thrust of the intervening period, it concentrates on a molecular approach to the subject. Thus, it attempts to provide an integrated view of advances in understanding of the structures of transport components, their molecular mechanisms, synthesis and assembly, energetics and regulation. Application of this fundamental knowledge to exploitation of peptide permeases in the design of peptide-based antimicrobial compounds is also considered. Only when felt important for a balanced discussion is material covered in earlier reviews presented here. However, problems in adopting this approach need to be recognized. For, as G. K. Chesterton might have said, the disadvantage of not knowing the past is that you cannot fully understand the present.