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Fluorescence nanoscopy, or super-resolution microscopy, has become an important tool in cell biological research. However, because of its usually inferior resolution in the depth direction (50-80 nm) and rapidly deteriorating resolution in thick samples, its practical biological application has been effectively limited to two dimensions and thin samples. Here, we present the development of whole-cell 4Pi single-molecule switching nanoscopy (W-4PiSMSN), an optical nanoscope that allows imaging of three-dimensional (3D) structures at 10- to 20-nm resolution throughout entire mammalian cells. We demonstrate the wide applicability of W-4PiSMSN across diverse research fields by imaging complex molecular architectures ranging from bacteriophages to nuclear pores, cilia, and synaptonemal complexes in large 3D cellular volumes.

Horizontal gene transfer allows organisms to rapidly acquire adaptive traits (1). Although documented instances of horizontal gene transfer from bacteria to eukaryotes remain rare, bacteria represent a rich source of new functions potentially available for co-option (2).One benefit that genes of bacterial origin could provide to eukaryotes is the capacity to produce antibacterials, which have evolved in prokaryotes as the result of eons of interbacterial competition. The type VI secretion amidase effector (Tae) proteins are potent bacteriocidal enzymes that degrade the cell wall when delivered into competing bacterial cells by the type VI secretion system (3). Here we show that tae genes have been transferred to eukaryotes on at least six occasions, and that the resulting domesticated amidase effector (dae) genes have been preserved for hundreds of millions of years through purifying selection. We show that the dae genes acquired eukaryotic secretion signals, are expressed within recipient organisms, and encode active antibacterial toxins that possess substrate specificity matching extant Tae proteins of the same lineage. Finally, we show that a dae gene in the deer tick Ixodes scapularis limits proliferation of Borrelia burgdorferi, the aetiologic agent of Lyme disease. Our work demonstrates that a family of horizontally acquired toxins honed to mediate interbacterial antagonism confers previously undescribed antibacterial capacity to eukaryotes. We speculate that the selective pressure imposed by competition between bacteria has produced a reservoir of genes encoding diverse antimicrobial functions that are tailored for co-option by eukaryotic innate immune systems., Eukaryotes can acquire new functions through the exchange of genetic material with other domains of life (1). Indeed, bacteria-to-eukarya horizontal gene transfer (HGT) underlies the adaptation and diversification of many [...]

Bacterial cell morphogenesis requires coordination among multiple cellular systems, including the bacterial cytoskeleton and the cell wall. In the vibrioid bacterium Caulobacter crescentus, the intermediate filament-like protein crescentin forms a cell envelope-associated cytoskeletal structure that controls cell wall growth to generate cell curvature. We undertook a genetic screen to find other cellular components important for cell curvature. Here we report that deletion of a gene (wbqL) involved in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis pathway abolishes cell curvature. Loss of WbqL function leads to the accumulation of an aberrant Opolysaccharide species and to the release of the S layer in the culture medium. Epistasis and microscopy experiments show that neither S-layer nor O-polysaccharide production is required for curved cell morphology per se but that production of the altered O-polysaccharide species abolishes cell curvature by apparently interfering with the ability of the crescentin structure to associate with the cell envelope. Our data suggest that perturbations in a cellular pathway that is itself fully dispensable for cell curvature can cause a disruption of cell morphogenesis, highlighting the delicate harmony among unrelated cellular systems. Using the wbqL mutant, we also show that the normal assembly and growth properties of the crescentin structure are independent of its association with the cell envelope. However, this envelope association is important for facilitating the local disruption of the stable crescentin structure at the division site during cytokinesis. doi: 10.1128/JB.01371-09

Eukaryotic cells spatially organize mRNA processes such as translation and mRNA decay. Much less is clear in bacterial cells where the spatial distribution of mature mRNA remains ambiguous. Using a sensitive method based on quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization, we show here that in Caulobacter crescentus and Escherichia coli, chromosomally expressed mRNAs largely display limited dispersion from their site of transcription during their lifetime. We estimate apparent diffusion coefficients at least two orders of magnitude lower than expected for freely diffusing mRNA, and provide evidence in C. crescentus that this mRNA localization restricts ribosomal mobility. Furthermore, C. crescentus RNase E appears associated with the DNA independently of its mRNA substrates. Collectively, our findings show that bacteria can spatially organize translation and, potentially, mRNA decay by using the chromosome layout as a template. This chromosome-centric organization has important implications for cellular physiology and for our understanding of gene expression in bacteria., In bacterial cells, the major mRNA species is the full-length transcript. Its predominance over nascent, partially transcribed mRNA is supported by northern blotting and recently by quantitative deep RNA sequencing [...]

MreB, the bacterial actin-like cytoskeleton, is required for the rod morphology of many bacterial species. Disruption of MreB function results in loss of rod morphology and cell rounding. Here, we show that the widely used MreB inhibitor A22 causes MreB-independent growth inhibition that varies with the drug concentration, culture medium conditions, and bacterial species tested. MP265, an A22 structural analog, is less toxic than A22 for growth yet equally efficient for disrupting the MreB cytoskeleton. The action of A22 and MP265 is enhanced by basic pH of the culture medium. Using this knowledge and the rapid reversibility of drug action, we examined the restoration of rod shape in lemon-shaped Caulobacter crescentus cells pretreated with MP265 or A22 under nontoxic conditions. We found that reversible restoration of MreB function after drug removal causes extensive morphological changes including a remarkable cell thinning accompanied with elongation, cell branching, and shedding of outer membrane vesicles. We also thoroughly characterized the composition of C. crescentus peptidoglycan by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry and showed that MreB disruption and recovery of rod shape following restoration of MreB function are accompanied by considerable changes in composition. Our results provide insight into MreB function in peptidoglycan remodeling and rod shape morphogenesis and suggest that MreB promotes the transglycosylase activity of penicillinbinding proteins. doi: 10.1128/JB.01311-09

The phosphorylated form of the response regulator CtrA represses DNA replication initiation and regulates the transcription of about 100 cell cycle-regulated genes in Caulobacter crescentus. CtrA activity fluctuates during the cell cycle, and its periodicity is a key element of the engine that drives cell cycle progression. The histidine kinase CckA controls the phosphorylation not only of CtrA but also of CpdR, whose unphosphorylated form promotes CtrA proteolysis. Thus, CckA has a central role in establishing the cell cycle periodicity of CtrA activity by controlling both its phosphorylation and stability. Evidence suggests that the polar localization of CckA during the cell cycle plays a role in CckA function. However, the exact pattern of CckA localization remains controversial. Here, we describe a thorough, quantitative analysis of the spatiotemporal distribution of a functional and chromosomally produced CckA-monomeric green fluorescent protein fusion that affects current models of cell cycle regulation. We also identify two c/s-acting regions in CckA that are important for its proper localization and function. The disruption of a PAS-like motif in the sensor domain affects the stability of CckA accumulation at the poles. This is accompanied by a partial loss in CckA function. Shortening an extended linker between [beta]-sheets within the CckA catalysis-assisting ATP-binding domain has a more severe effect on CckA polar localization and function. This mutant strain exhibits a dramatic cell-to-cell variability in CpdR levels and CtrA cell cycle periodicity, suggesting that the cell cycle-coordinated polar localization of CckA may be important for the robustness of signal transduction and cell cycle progression. doi: 10.1128/JB.00985-09

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2008.07.016 Byline: Gitte Ebersbach (1), Ariane Briegel (2), Grant J. Jensen (2), Christine Jacobs-Wagner (1)(3) Keywords: CELLBIO; MICROBIO Abstract: Cell polarization is an integral part of many unrelated bacterial processes. How intrinsic cell polarization is achieved is poorly understood. Here, we provide evidence that Caulobacter crescentus uses a multimeric pole-organizing factor (PopZ) that serves as a hub to concurrently achieve several polarizing functions. During chromosome segregation, polar PopZ captures the ParBacentsori complex and thereby anchors sister chromosomes at opposite poles. This step is essential for stabilizing bipolar gradients of a cell division inhibitor and setting up division near midcell. PopZ also affects polar stalk morphogenesis and mediates the polar localization of the morphogenetic and cell cycle signaling proteins CckA and DivJ. Polar accumulation of PopZ, which is central to its polarizing activity, can be achieved independently of division and does not appear to be dictated by the pole curvature. Instead, evidence suggests that localization of PopZ largely relies on PopZ multimerization in chromosome-free regions, consistent with a self-organizing mechanism. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA (2) Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA (3) Howard Hughes Medical Institute Article History: Received 26 November 2007; Revised 18 April 2008; Accepted 11 July 2008 Article Note: (miscellaneous) Published: September 18, 2008

The bacterial flagellum is important for motility and adaptation to environmental niches. The sequence of events required for the synthesis of the flagellar apparatus has been extensively studied, yet the events that dictate where the flagellum is placed at the onset of flagellar biosynthesis remain largely unknown. We addressed this question for alphaproteobacteria by using the polarly flagellated alphaproteobacterium Caulobacter crescentus as an experimental model system. To identify candidates for a role in flagellar placement, we searched all available alphaproteobacterial genomes for genes of unknown function that cluster with early flagellar genes and that are present in polarly flagellated alphaproteobacteria while being absent in alphaproteobacteria with other flagellation patterns. From this in silico screen, we identified pflI. Loss of PflI function in C. crescentus results in an abnormally high frequency of cells with a randomly placed flagellum, while other aspects of cell polarization remain normal. In a wild-type background, a fusion of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and PflI localizes to the pole where the flagellum develops. This polar localization is independent of the flagellar protein FliF, whose oligomerization into the MS ring is thought to define the site of flagellar synthesis, suggesting that PflI acts before or independently of this event. Overproduction of PflI-GFP often leads to ectopic localization at the wrong, stalked pole. This is accompanied by a high frequency of flagellum formation at this ectopic site, suggesting that the location of PflI is a sufficient marker for a site for flagellar assembly.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2005.12.040 Byline: Hubert Lam (1), Whitman B. Schofield (1), Christine Jacobs-Wagner (1) Abstract: Polarity is often an intrinsic property of the cell, yet little is known about its origin or its maintenance over generations. Here we identify a landmark protein, TipN, which acts as a spatial and temporal cue for setting up the correct polarity in the bacterium Caulobacter crescentus. TipN marks the new pole throughout most of the cell cycle, and its relocation to the nascent poles at the end of division provides a preexisting reference point for orienting the polarity axis in the progeny. Deletion of tipN causes pleiotropic polarity defects, including frequently reversed asymmetry in progeny size and mislocalization of proteins and organelles. Ectopic localization of TipN along the lateral side of the cell creates new axes of polarity leading to cell branching and formation of competent cell poles. Localization defects of the actin-like protein MreB in the [DELTA]tipN mutant suggest that TipN is upstream of MreB in regulating cell polarity. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA Article History: Received 23 August 2005; Revised 10 November 2005; Accepted 6 December 2005 Article Note: (miscellaneous) Published: March 9, 2006

A control mechanism is provided by dynamic polar localization of a diffusible protein to monitor cytokinesis which regulates development. It is shown by genetic evidence that localization of the signaling protein DivK at the flagellated pole stops premature initiation of development.

* Abstract The dimorphic and intrinsically asymmetric bacterium Caulobacter crescentus has become an important model organism to study the bacterial cell cycle, cell polarity, and polar differentiation. A multifaceted regulatory [...]