Dynamic proteins and a cytoskeleton in bacteria

The application of modern fluorescence microscopic methods to bacteria has revolutionized our view of their subcellular organization. Many proteins are now known to be targeted with exquisite precision to specific locations in the cell, or to undergo rapid directed changes in localization. Structural and functional homologues of tubulin (FtsZ) and actin (MreB) are now indisputably present in bacteria, overturning the textbook view that the cytoskeleton is unique to eukaryotes. These advances are stimulating a radical rethink about how various fundamental processes are organised in bacteria.