Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, December 2006, p. 888-909, Vol. 70, No. 4
1092-2172/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MMBR.00014-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
The Bacterial Actin-Like Cytoskeleton
Rut Carballido-López*
Génétique Microbienne, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, France
Recent advances have shown conclusively that bacterial cells possess distant but true homologues of actin (MreB, ParM, and the recently uncovered MamK protein). Despite weak amino acid sequence similarity, MreB and ParM exhibit high structural homology to actin. Just like F-actin in eukaryotes, MreB and ParM assemble into highly dynamic filamentous structures in vivo and in vitro. MreB-like proteins are essential for cell viability and have been implicated in major cellular processes, including cell morphogenesis, chromosome segregation, and cell polarity. ParM (a plasmid-encoded actin homologue) is responsible for driving plasmid-DNA partitioning. The dynamic prokaryotic actin-like cytoskeleton is thought to serve as a central organizer for the targeting and accurate positioning of proteins and nucleoprotein complexes, thereby (and by analogy to the eukaryotic cytoskeleton) spatially and temporally controlling macromolecular trafficking in bacterial cells. In this paper, the general properties and known functions of the actin orthologues in bacteria are reviewed.
* Mailing address: Génétique Microbienne, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 78352 Jouy-en-Josas Cedex, France. Phone: 33 1 34652534. Fax: 33 1 34652521. E-mail: rut.carballido-lopez{at}jouy.inra.fr.
Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, December 2006, p. 888-909, Vol. 70, No. 4
1092-2172/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MMBR.00014-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Letek, M., Ordonez, E., Vaquera, J., Margolin, W., Flardh, K., Mateos, L. M., Gil, J. A.
(2008). DivIVA Is Required for Polar Growth in the MreB-Lacking Rod-Shaped Actinomycete Corynebacterium glutamicum. J. Bacteriol.
190: 3283-3292
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Hett, E. C., Rubin, E. J.
(2008). Bacterial Growth and Cell Division: a Mycobacterial Perspective. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
72: 126-156
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Bendezu, F. O., de Boer, P. A. J.
(2008). Conditional Lethality, Division Defects, Membrane Involution, and Endocytosis in mre and mrd Shape Mutants of Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol.
190: 1792-1811
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Campo, N., Marquis, K. A., Rudner, D. Z.
(2008). SpoIIQ Anchors Membrane Proteins on Both Sides of the Sporulation Septum in Bacillus subtilis. J. Biol. Chem.
283: 4975-4982
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Taoka, A., Asada, R., Wu, L.-F., Fukumori, Y.
(2007). Polymerization of the Actin-Like Protein MamK, Which Is Associated with Magnetosomes. J. Bacteriol.
189: 8737-8740
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Cabeen, M. T., Jacobs-Wagner, C.
(2007). Skin and bones: the bacterial cytoskeleton, cell wall, and cell morphogenesis. J. Cell Biol.
179: 381-387
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Nguyen, L., Scherr, N., Gatfield, J., Walburger, A., Pieters, J., Thompson, C. J.
(2007). Antigen 84, an Effector of Pleiomorphism in Mycobacterium smegmatis. J. Bacteriol.
189: 7896-7910
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Goley, E. D., Iniesta, A. A., Shapiro, L.
(2007). Cell cycle regulation in Caulobacter: location, location, location. J. Cell Sci.
120: 3501-3507
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Robertson, G. T., Doyle, T. B., Du, Q., Duncan, L., Mdluli, K. E., Lynch, A. S.
(2007). A Novel Indole Compound That Inhibits Pseudomonas aeruginosa Growth by Targeting MreB Is a Substrate for MexAB-OprM. J. Bacteriol.
189: 6870-6881
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Huitema, E., Viollier, P. H.
(2007). Break on through to the other side: outer membrane penetration of the nascent flagellum by a stop-polymerization mechanism. Genes Dev.
21: 2253-2257
[Full Text]
-
Varma, A., de Pedro, M. A., Young, K. D.
(2007). FtsZ Directs a Second Mode of Peptidoglycan Synthesis in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol.
189: 5692-5704
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Larsen, R. A., Cusumano, C., Fujioka, A., Lim-Fong, G., Patterson, P., Pogliano, J.
(2007). Treadmilling of a prokaryotic tubulin-like protein, TubZ, required for plasmid stability in Bacillus thuringiensis. Genes Dev.
21: 1340-1352
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
Copyright © 2006 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.