Abstract
Actin was once considered an exclusive hallmark of eukaryotic cells. In 2001, however, a filament-forming actin homolog was discovered in eubacteria as a regulator of cell shape (Jones, 2001). Since that time, other bacterial actin filaments have been shown to segregate DNA (Moller-Jensen, 2002; Becker, 2006; Derman, 2009) and position organelles (Komelli, 2006). Recent bioinformatic analysis has identified dozens of families of Actin Like Proteins (ALPs) encoded on prokaryotic chromosomes, plasmids, and phages. While the overwhelming majority of these proteins remains uncharacterized, two plasmid-segregating bacterial actins, ParM and AlfA, have been studied in vitro. The architecture and assembly dynamics of these filaments and their mechanisms of force generation and cargo translocation are examined in this chapter.
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