Bacteria control the metabolic processes by which they obtain nutrients and energy in order to adapt to the environment.
Actinobacteria
, one of the largest bacterial phyla of major importance for biotechnology, medicine, and agriculture, developed a unique control process that revolves around a key protein, the protein kinase PknG. Here, we use genetic, biochemical, and structural approaches to study PknG in a system that regulates glutamate production in
Corynebacterium glutamicum
, a species used for the industrial production of amino acids.