%0 Journal Article
%T Cytoskeletal Proteins of Actinobacteria
%A Michal Letek
%A Mar¨ªa Fiuza
%A Almudena F. Villadangos
%A Lu¨ªs M. Mateos
%A Jos¨¦ A. Gil
%J International Journal of Cell Biology
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/905832
%X Although bacteria are considered the simplest life forms, we are now slowly unraveling their cellular complexity. Surprisingly, not only do bacterial cells have a cytoskeleton but also the building blocks are not very different from the cytoskeleton that our own cells use to grow and divide. Nonetheless, despite important advances in our understanding of the basic physiology of certain bacterial models, little is known about Actinobacteria, an ancient group of Eubacteria. Here we review current knowledge on the cytoskeletal elements required for bacterial cell growth and cell division, focusing on actinobacterial genera such as Mycobacterium, Corynebacterium, and Streptomyces. These include some of the deadliest pathogens on earth but also some of the most prolific producers of antibiotics and antitumorals. 1. Introduction All cells require cytoskeletal proteins for cell division and growth [1]. These structural components are essential for the maintenance of cell shape as well as for other dynamic processes critical for the cell, such as chromosomal segregation, the equal partitioning of cytosolic material, cell polarization, and motility [2]. The ubiquity of the cytoskeletal proteins reflects their early evolutionary acquisition and bacterial origin [3]. In fact, it is difficult to imagine an adaptable free-living cell without a versatile internal cytoskeleton. However, this notion is very recent since only just a decade ago it was thought that bacteria lacked a cytoskeleton. Instead, the required cell membrane support was assumed to be provided by the bacterial cell wall, which was thus considered to function as an ¡°exoskeleton,¡± forming a physical barrier that contained the hydrostatic internal cell pressure and prevented the rupture of the cell membrane [4]. In fact, this exoskeleton does determine the characteristic shape of a bacterial cell, since in the absence of cell wall rod-shaped bacteria lose their morphology and become perfect spheres. But given that the chemical composition of the bacterial cell wall is essentially the same in the vast majority of Eubacteria (it is basically made of peptidoglycan or murein), it was also recognized that other factors must drive the determination of bacterial cell shape [5]. Osmotic pressure was thought to have some role in this process albeit a limited one, in view of the high morphological variability observed in different wild-type bacterial species and in strains carrying mutations in the different genes involved in cell morphology determination (morphogenes) [5]. In addition, and despite their
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijcb/2012/905832/