Figures
Bacterial membrane coat proteins?
Members of the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobiaea-Chlamydiae superphylum of bacteria have a compartmentalized cellular organization. Santarella-Mellwig et al. (e1000281) show that members of this superphylum have proteins whose domain architecture is similar to that of eukaryotic membrane coat proteins, which have not previously been detected in prokaryotes. These proteins localize partly at the membrane of vesicles formed inside bacterial cells. Illustrated is a cell of Gemmata obscuriglobus, a member of the Planctomycetes phylum. DNA is colored purple and the vesicle-containing compartment green.
Image Credit: R. Santarella-Mellwig (electron microscopy) and C. Panagiotidis (graphic design)
Citation: (2010) PLoS Biology Issue Image | Vol. 8(1) January 2010. PLoS Biol 8(1): ev08.i01. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pbio.v08.i01
Published: January 26, 2010
Copyright: © 2010 Santarella-Mellwig et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Members of the Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobiaea-Chlamydiae superphylum of bacteria have a compartmentalized cellular organization. Santarella-Mellwig et al. (e1000281) show that members of this superphylum have proteins whose domain architecture is similar to that of eukaryotic membrane coat proteins, which have not previously been detected in prokaryotes. These proteins localize partly at the membrane of vesicles formed inside bacterial cells. Illustrated is a cell of Gemmata obscuriglobus, a member of the Planctomycetes phylum. DNA is colored purple and the vesicle-containing compartment green.
Image Credit: R. Santarella-Mellwig (electron microscopy) and C. Panagiotidis (graphic design)