Valencia-Burton Maria, Shah Ankita, Sutin Jason, Borogovac Azra, McCullough Ron M, Cantor Charles R, Meller Amit, Broude Natalia E
Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 36 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Sep 22;106(38):16399-404. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0907495106. Epub 2009 Sep 11.
Bacteria have a complex internal organization with specific localization of many proteins and DNA, which dynamically move during the cell cycle and in response to changing environmental stimuli. Much less is known, however, about the localization and movements of RNA molecules. By modifying our previous RNA labeling system, we monitor the expression and localization of a model RNA transcript in live Escherichia coli cells. Our results reveal that the target RNA is not evenly distributed within the cell and localizes laterally along the long cell axis, in a pattern suggesting the existence of ordered helical RNA structures reminiscent of known bacterial cytoskeletal cellular elements.
细菌具有复杂的内部组织结构,许多蛋白质和DNA都有特定的定位,它们在细胞周期中动态移动,并对不断变化的环境刺激做出反应。然而,我们对RNA分子的定位和移动了解得要少得多。通过改进我们之前的RNA标记系统,我们监测了活的大肠杆菌细胞中一种模型RNA转录本的表达和定位。我们的结果表明,目标RNA在细胞内并非均匀分布,而是沿细胞长轴横向定位,这种模式表明存在有序的螺旋RNA结构,让人联想到已知的细菌细胞骨架细胞元件。