The application of modern fluorescence microscopic methods to bacteria has revolutionized our view of their subcellular organization. Many proteins are now known to be targeted with exquisite precision to specific locations in the cell, or to undergo rapid directed changes in localization. Structural and functional homologues of tubulin (FtsZ) and actin (MreB) are now indisputably present in bacteria, overturning the textbook view that the cytoskeleton is unique to eukaryotes. These advances are stimulating a radical rethink about how various fundamental processes are organised in bacteria.
References
Shapiro, L. & Losick, R. Cell 100, 89–98 (2000).
Yanofsky, C. J. Bacteriol 182, 1–8 (2000).
Lewis, P.J., Thaker, S.D. & Errington, J. EMBO J. 19, 710–718 (2000).
Mascarenhas, J., Weber, M.H. & Graumann, P.L. EMBO Reports 2, 685–689 (2001).
Weber, M.H., Volkov, A.V., Fricke, I., Marahiel, M.A. & Graumann, P.L. J. Bacteriol. 183, 6435–6443 (2001).
Iborra, F.J., Jackson, D.A. & Cook, P.R. Science 293, 1139–1142 (2001).
Hozak, P., Hassan, A.B., Jackson, D.A. & Cook, P.R. Cell 73, 361–373 (1993).
Lemon, K.P. & Grossman, A.D. Science 282, 1516–1519 (1998).
Lemon, K.P. & Grossman, A.D. Genes Dev. 15, 2031–2041 (2001).
Sawitzke, J. & Austin, S. Mol. Microbiol. 40, 786–794 (2001).
Jacob, F., Brenner, S. & Cuzin, F. Cold Sring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology 28, 329–348 (1963).
Glaser, P. et al. Genes Dev. 11, 1160–1168 (1997).
Webb, C.D. et al. Cell 88, 667–674 (1997).
Gordon, G.S. & Wright, A. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 54, 681–708 (2000).
Raskin, D.M. & De Boer, P.A.J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 96, 4971–4976 (1999).
de Boer, P.A.J., Crossley, R.E. & Rothfield, L.I. Cell 56, 641–649 (1989).
Margolin, W. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 4, 647–652 (2001).
Hu, Z. & Lutkenhaus, J. Mol. Cell 7, 1337–1343 (2001).
Hale, C.A., Meinhardt, H. & de Boer, P.A. EMBO J. 20, 1563–1572 (2001).
Hu, Z., Gogol, E.P. & Lutkenhaus, J. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99, 6761–6766 (2002).
Fu, X., Shih, Y.-L. & Rothfield, L.I. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 980–985 (2001).
Meinhardt, H. & de Boer, P.A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 98, 14202–14207 (2001).
Howard, M., Rutenberg, A.D. & de Vet, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 278102-1–278102-4 (2001).
Kruse, K. Biophys J. 82, 618–627 (2002).
Marston, A.L., Thomaides, H.B., Edwards, D.H., Sharpe, M.E. & Errington, J. Genes Dev. 12, 3419–3430 (1998).
Marston, A.L. & Errington, J. Mol. Cell 4, 673–682 (1999).
Quisel, J.D., Lin, D.C.-H. & Grossman, A.D. Mol. Cell 4, 665–672 (1999).
Jensen, R.B., Wang, S.C. & Shapiro, L. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 3, 167–176 (2002).
Bi, E. & Lutkenhaus, J. Nature 354, 161–164 (1991).
Chen, J.C. & Beckwith, J. Mol. Microbiol. 42, 395–413 (2001).
Errington, J. & Daniel, R.A. in Bacillus subtilis and its relatives: from genes to cells (eds Sonenshein, L., Losick, R. & Hoch, J.A.) 97–109 (American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C., 2001).
Margolin, W. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 24, 531–548 (2000).
Lutkenhaus, J. & Addinall, S.G. Ann. Rev. Biochem. 66, 93–116 (1997).
Scheffers, D. & Driessen, A.J. FEBS Lett. 506, 6–10 (2001).
Löwe, J. & Amos, L.A. Nature 391, 203–206 (1998).
Stricker, J., Maddox, P., Salmon, E.D. & Erickson, H.P. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 99, 3171–3175 (2002).
Vollmer, W. & Höltje, J.-V. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 4, 626–633 (2001).
Bork, P., Sander, C. & Valencia, A. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 89, 7290–7294 (1992).
Jones, L.J.F., Carballido-Lopez, R. & Errington, J. Cell 104, 913–922 (2001).
van den Ent, F., Amos, L.A. & Löwe, J. Nature 413, 39–44 (2001).
Møller-Jensen, J., Jensen, R.B., Löwe, J. & Gerdes, K. EMBO J. 21, 3119–3127 (2002).
Møller-Jensen, J., Gerdes, K. & Löwe, J. EMBO J. (2002).
Acknowledgements
Work in the Errington lab is supported by grants and a Senior Research Fellowship (to J.E.) from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). I am indebted to many colleagues in the lab who have contributed to our bacterial cell imaging work over the last few years, especially to P.J. Lewis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Errington, J. Dynamic proteins and a cytoskeleton in bacteria. Nat Cell Biol 5, 175–178 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0303-175
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0303-175
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Multimer recognition and secretion by the non-classical secretion pathway in Bacillus subtilis
Scientific Reports (2017)
-
Evolutionary tradeoffs in cellular composition across diverse bacteria
The ISME Journal (2016)
-
Patch clamp characterization of the effect of cardiolipin on MscS of E. coli
European Biophysics Journal (2015)
-
Cell wall elongation mode in Gram-negative bacteria is determined by peptidoglycan architecture
Nature Communications (2013)
-
Cell-division inhibitors: new insights for future antibiotics
Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (2008)