Abstract
Cells have to erect and sustain an organized and dynamically adaptable structure for an efficient mode of operation that allows drastic morphological changes during cell growth and cell division. These manifold tasks are complied by the so-called cytoskeleton and its associated proteins. In bacteria, FtsZ and MreB, the bacterial homologs to tubulin and actin, respectively, as well as coiled-coil-rich proteins of intermediate filament (IF)-like function to fulfil these tasks. Despite generally being characterized as Gram-negative, cyanobacteria have a remarkably thick peptidoglycan layer and possess Gram-positive-specific cell division proteins such as SepF and DivIVA-like proteins, besides Gram-negative and cyanobacterial-specific cell division proteins like MinE, SepI, ZipN (Ftn2) and ZipS (Ftn6). The diversity of cellular morphologies and cell growth strategies in cyanobacteria could therefore be the result of additional unidentified structural determinants such as cytoskeletal proteins. In this article, we review the current advances in the understanding of the cyanobacterial cell shape, cell division and cell growth. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000457881Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
LifeVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
MDPISubject
Cyanobacteria; Morphology; Cell division; Cell shape; Cytoskeleton; FtsZ; MreB; IF proteinsOrganisational unit
09463 - Pilhofer, Martin / Pilhofer, Martin
Funding
179255 - Structure, function, and evolution of bacterial contractile injection systems (SNF)
679209 - Multiscale model of bacterial cell-cell interactions (EC)
More
Show all metadata