title: Functional taxonomy of bacterial hyperstructures.
abstract: The levels of organization that exist in bacteria extend from macromolecules to populations. Evidence that there is also a level of organization intermediate between the macromolecule and the bacterial cell is accumulating. This is the level of hyperstructures. Here, we review a variety of spatially extended structures, complexes, and assemblies that might be termed hyperstructures. These include ribosomal or "nucleolar" hyperstructures; transertion hyperstructures; putative phosphotransferase system and glycolytic hyperstructures; chemosignaling and flagellar hyperstructures; DNA repair hyperstructures; cytoskeletal hyperstructures based on EF-Tu, FtsZ, and MreB; and cell cycle hyperstructures responsible for DNA replication, sequestration of newly replicated origins, segregation, compaction, and division. We propose principles for classifying these hyperstructures and finally illustrate how thinking in terms of hyperstructures may lead to a different vision of the bacterial cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Science, University of Rouen, 76821 Mont Saint Aignan Cedex, France. vjn@univ-rouen.fr
authors.forename: Vic
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: Tanneke
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: den Blaauwen
authors.forename: Armelle
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cabin-Flaman
authors.forename: Roy H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.forename: Rasika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Harshey
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Janniere
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jimenez-Sanchez
authors.forename: Ding Jun
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Petra Anne
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mileykovskaya
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minsky
authors.forename: Milton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saier
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Skarstad
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D005407:Flagella / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial