Journal
CELL
Volume 151, Issue 6, Pages 1270-1282Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.10.046
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Funding
- Max Planck Society
- Human Frontier Science Program [RGY0069/2008-C]
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) [DP2OD004389]
- NRSA postdoctoral fellowship from National Institute of General Medical Sciences [F32GM906842]
- NIH [GM51986, RO1 GM094800B]
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In eukaryotes, the differentiation of cellular extensions such as cilia or neuronal axons depends on the partitioning of proteins to distinct plasma membrane domains by specialized diffusion barriers. However, examples of this compartmentalization strategy are still missing for prokaryotes, although complex cellular architectures are also widespread among this group of organisms. This study reveals the existence of a protein-mediated membrane diffusion barrier in the stalked bacterium Caulobacter crescentus. We show that the Caulobacter cell envelope is compartmentalized by macromolecular complexes that prevent the exchange of both membrane and soluble proteins between the polar stalk extension and the cell body. The barrier structures span the cross-sectional area of the stalk and comprise at least four proteins that assemble in a cell-cycle-dependent manner. Their presence is critical for cellular fitness because they minimize the effective cell volume, allowing faster adaptation to environmental changes that require de novo synthesis of envelope proteins.
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