Department of Biology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Curr Genet. 2019 Jun;65(3):691-694. doi: 10.1007/s00294-018-00927-x. Epub 2019 Jan 2.
The bacterial cytoplasm, once thought to be a relatively undifferentiated reaction medium, has now been recognized to have extensive microstructure. This microstructure includes bacterial microcompartments, inclusion bodies, granules, and even some membrane-bound vesicles. Several recent papers suggest that bacteria may also organize their cytoplasm using an additional mechanism: phase-separated membraneless organelles, a strategy commonly used by eukaryotes. Phase-separated membraneless organelles such as Cajal bodies, the nucleolus, and stress granules allow proteins to become concentrated in sub-compartments of eukaryotic cells without being surrounded by a barrier to diffusion. In this review, we summarize the known structural organization of the bacterial cytoplasm and discuss the recent evidence that phase-separated membraneless organelles might also play a role in bacterial systems. We specifically focus on bacterial ribonucleoprotein complexes and two different protein components of the bacterial nucleoid that may have the ability to form subcellular partitions within bacteria cells.
细菌细胞质曾被认为是一种相对未分化的反应介质，现在已被证实具有广泛的微观结构。这种微观结构包括细菌微区室、包含体、颗粒，甚至一些膜结合的小泡。最近的几篇论文表明，细菌也可能使用另一种机制来组织细胞质：相分离的无膜细胞器，这是真核生物常用的策略。相分离的无膜细胞器，如 Cajal 体、核仁、应激颗粒，允许蛋白质在真核细胞的亚区室中浓缩，而不会被扩散的障碍所包围。在这篇综述中，我们总结了已知的细菌细胞质的结构组织，并讨论了最近的证据表明，相分离的无膜细胞器也可能在细菌系统中发挥作用。我们特别关注细菌核糖核蛋白复合物和细菌拟核的两种不同的蛋白质成分，它们可能具有在细菌细胞内形成亚细胞区室的能力。
