Abstract
Membranes are vital structures for cellular life forms. As thin, hydrophobic films, they provide a physical barrier separating the aqueous cytoplasm from the outside world or from the interiors of other cellular compartments. They maintain a selective permeability for the import and export of water-soluble compounds, enabling the living cell to maintain a stable chemical environment for biological processes. Cell membranes are primarily composed of two crucial substances, lipids and proteins. Bacterial membranes can sense environmental changes or communication signals from other cells and they support different cell processes, including cell division, differentiation, protein secretion and supplementary protein functions. The original fluid mosaic model of membrane structure has been recently revised because it has become apparent that domains of different lipid composition are present in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell membranes. In this review, we summarize different aspects of phospholipid domain formation in bacterial membranes, mainly in Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. We describe the role of these lipid domains in membrane dynamics and the localization of specific proteins and protein complexes in relation to the regulation of cellular function.
Highlights
In the past, bacterial cells were thought of as vessels without internal organization, with proteins, mRNA, chromosomes and other soluble compounds dispersed somewhat randomly inside of a membrane-enveloped cytoplasm
The localization of proteins to specific sites in the cell membrane may be governed by chemical factors, for example the phospholipid composition of the lipid domains [4,5] and rafts [6], by different physical characteristics of the membrane, e.g. its degree of negative or positive curvature [7,8] or its electrical potential [9], and by the different lipid composition of membranes belonging to differentiated cell compartments
All these factors show that the formation of lipid domains in cell membranes allows cellular asymmetry to be developed; this asymmetry is crucial for the life cycle and for many different vital processes in bacteria
Summary
Bacterial cells were thought of as vessels without internal organization, with proteins, mRNA, chromosomes and other soluble compounds dispersed somewhat randomly inside of a membrane-enveloped cytoplasm. The localization of proteins to specific sites in the cell membrane may be governed by chemical factors, for example the phospholipid composition of the lipid domains [4,5] and rafts [6], by different physical characteristics of the membrane, e.g. its degree of negative or positive curvature [7,8] or its electrical potential [9], and by the different lipid composition of membranes belonging to differentiated cell compartments Taken together, all these factors show that the formation of lipid domains in cell membranes allows cellular asymmetry to be developed; this asymmetry is crucial for the life cycle and for many different vital processes in bacteria
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