Technische Universität Darmstadt, Fachbereich Biologie, Darmstadt, Germany.
Nat Rev Microbiol. 2012 Oct;10(10):705-15. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro2834. Epub 2012 Sep 3.
A range of bacteria and archaea produce intracellular gas-filled proteinaceous structures that function as flotation devices in order to maintain a suitable depth in the aqueous environment. The wall of these gas vesicles is freely permeable to gas molecules and is composed of a small hydrophobic protein, GvpA, which forms a single-layer wall. In addition, several minor structural, accessory or regulatory proteins are required for gas vesicle formation. In different organisms, 8-14 genes encoding gas vesicle proteins have been identified, and their expression has been shown to be regulated by environmental factors. In this Review, I describe the basic properties of gas vesicles, the genes that encode them and how their production is regulated. I also discuss the function of these vesicles and the initial attempts to exploit them for biotechnological purposes.
一系列细菌和古菌会产生充满气体的蛋白状细胞内结构，这些结构充当浮选装置，以维持在水相环境中的合适深度。这些气泡囊的囊壁可让气体分子自由渗透，由一种名为 GvpA 的小型疏水性蛋白组成，形成单层壁。此外，气泡囊的形成还需要几种较小的结构、辅助或调节蛋白。在不同的生物体中，已经鉴定出 8-14 种编码气泡囊蛋白的基因，并且已经表明它们的表达受环境因素的调节。在这篇综述中，我描述了气泡囊的基本性质、编码它们的基因以及它们的产生是如何被调节的。我还讨论了这些囊泡的功能以及最初尝试将其用于生物技术目的的情况。
