Bacteria, like eukaryotes, use conserved cytoskeletal systems for intracellular organization. The plasmid-encoded ParMRC system forms actin-like filaments that segregate low–copy number plasmids. In m...

Peptidoglycan recycling is essential for proper cell growth and intrinsic ampicillin resistance in Caulobacter crescentus, highlighting PG recycling enzymes as potential antibacterial targets.

Most bacteria possess a peptidoglycan sacculus, which is continuously remodeled during cell growth and division. The peptidoglycan (PG) fragments generated in this process are typically imported into ...

Nucleotide triphosphate (NTP)-dependent molecular switches regulate essential cellular processes by cycling between active and inactive states through nucleotide binding and hydrolysis. These mechanis...

ParABS systems partition chromosomal DNA and low-copy plasmids in bacteria. Here, the authors elucidate the mode of interaction between ParA and ParB and clarify how ParB stimulates the ATPase activity of ParA to drive the segregation process.

Bacteria were once thought to lack organelles, but it is now clear they confine cellular reactions using an array of membrane- and protein-based compartments. A central question, however, is how bacte...

Bona fide gene clusters for archaella are widespread across a bacterial phylum and encode functional motility machinery.

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Bacteria, despite their diversity, use conserved cytoskeletal systems for their intracellular organization. In unicellular bacteria, the ParMRC DNA partitioning apparatus is well known for forming act...

Nature Communications - Multiple types of cell elongation have been described in bacteria, but little is known about how these strategies vary across species. Here, the authors use fluorescent...

The Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has a distinctive pattern of growth. Newly-born cells elongate by primarily inserting peptidoglycan at mid-cell, while in longer cells, additional inse...

DNA segregation by bacterial ParABS systems is mediated by transient tethering interactions between nucleoid-bound dimers of the ATPase ParA and centromere (parS)-associated complexes of the clamp-for...