The bacterial cell envelope retains a highly dense cytoplasm. The properties of the cytoplasm change with the metabolic state of the cell, the logarithmic phase (log) being highly active and the stationary phase metabolically much slower. Under the differing growth phases, many different types of stress mechanisms are activated in order to maintain cellular integrity. One such response in enterobacteria is the phage shock protein (Psp) response that enables adaptation to the inner membrane (IM) stress. The Psp system consists of a transcriptional activator PspF, negative regulator PspA, signal sensors PspBC, with PspA and PspG acting as effectors. The single molecule imaging of the PspF showed the existence of dynamic communication between the nucleoid-bound states of PspF and membrane via negative regulator PspA and PspBC sensors. The movement of proteins in the cytoplasm of bacterial cells is often by passive diffusion. It is plausible that the dynamics of the biomolecules differs with the state of the cytoplasm depending on the growth phase. Therefore, the Psp response proteins might encounter the densely packed glass-like properties of the cytoplasm in the stationary phase, which can influence their cellular dynamics and function. By comparing the properties of the log and stationary phases, we find that the dynamics of PspF are influenced by the growth phase and may be controlled by the changes in the cytoplasmic fluidity.
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April 2015
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Conference Article|
April 07 2015
Is the cellular and molecular machinery docile in the stationary phase of Escherichia coli?
Parul Mehta;
*Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
2Correspondence may be addressed to either of these authors (email m.buck@imperial.ac.uk or p.mehta10@imperial.ac.uk, pm432@cam.ac.uk).
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Goran Jovanovic;
Goran Jovanovic
*Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
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Liming Ying;
Liming Ying
†National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
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Martin Buck
Martin Buck
2
*Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
2Correspondence may be addressed to either of these authors (email m.buck@imperial.ac.uk or p.mehta10@imperial.ac.uk, pm432@cam.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
October 06 2014
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2015 Biochemical Society
2015
Biochem Soc Trans (2015) 43 (2): 168–171.
Article history
Received:
October 06 2014
Citation
Parul Mehta, Goran Jovanovic, Liming Ying, Martin Buck; Is the cellular and molecular machinery docile in the stationary phase of Escherichia coli?. Biochem Soc Trans 1 April 2015; 43 (2): 168–171. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20140267
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