Macromolecular Crowding, Phase Separation, and Homeostasis in the Orchestration of Bacterial Cellular Functions.

ABSTRACT: Macromolecular crowding affects the activity of proteins and functional macromolecular complexes in all cells, including bacteria. Crowding, together with physicochemical parameters such as pH, ionic strength, and the energy status, influences the structure of the cytoplasm and thereby indirectly macromolecular function. Notably, crowding also promotes the formation of biomolecular condensates by phase separation, initially identified in eukaryotic cells but more recently discovered to play key functions in bacteria. Bacterial cells require a variety of mechanisms to maintain physicochemical homeostasis, in particular in environments with fluctuating conditions, and the formation of biomolecular condensates is emerging as one such mechanism. In this work, we connect physicochemical homeost

SUBMITTER: Monterroso B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10906006 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature