Ruiz Natividad
Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Methods Mol Biol. 2013;966:1-14. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-245-2_1.
Bacteria interact with the environment through their cell surface. Activities as diverse as attaching to a catheter, crawling on a surface, swimming through a pond, or being preyed on by a bacteriophage depend on the composition and structure of the cell surface. The cell surface must also protect bacteria from harmful chemicals present in the environment while allowing the intake of nutrients and excretion of toxic molecules. Bacteria have evolved four main types of bacterial cell surfaces to accomplish these functions: those of the typical gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria, and those of the Actinobacteria and Mollicutes. So few types seems remarkable since bacteria are very diverse and abundant, and they can live in many different environments. However, each species has tweaked these stereotypical bacterial surfaces to best fit its needs. The result is an amazing diversity of the bacterial landscape, most of which remains unexplored. Here I give an overview of the main features of the bacterial cell surface and highlight how advances in methodology have moved forward this field of study.
细菌通过其细胞表面与环境相互作用。诸如附着在导管上、在表面爬行、在池塘中游泳或被噬菌体捕食等各种各样的活动都取决于细胞表面的组成和结构。细胞表面还必须保护细菌免受环境中有害化学物质的侵害，同时允许营养物质的摄入和有毒分子的排出。细菌进化出了四种主要类型的细菌细胞表面来完成这些功能：典型的革兰氏阴性菌和革兰氏阳性菌的细胞表面，以及放线菌和柔膜菌的细胞表面。考虑到细菌种类繁多且数量丰富，并且能够生活在许多不同的环境中，如此少的类型似乎很引人注目。然而，每个物种都对这些典型的细菌表面进行了调整，以最适合其自身需求。其结果是细菌领域呈现出惊人的多样性，其中大部分仍未被探索。在此，我将概述细菌细胞表面的主要特征，并强调方法学的进步如何推动了这一研究领域的发展。
