UNSPECIFIED. (2006) Diffusion of green fluorescent protein in three cell environments in Escherichia coli. JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, 188 (10). pp. 3442-3448. ISSN 0021-9193

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Abstract

Surprisingly little is known about the physical environment inside a prokaryotic cell. Knowledge of the rates at which proteins and other cell components can diffuse is crucial for the understanding of a cell as a physical system. There have been numerous measurements of diffusion coefficients in eukaryotic cells by using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and related techniques. Much less information is available about diffusion coefficients in prokaryotic cells, which differ from eukaryotic cells in a number of significant respects. We have used FRAP to observe the diffusion of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in cells of Escherichia coli elongated by growth in the presence of cephalexin. GFP was expressed in the cytoplasm, exported into the periplasm using the twin-arginine translocation (Tat) system, or fused to an integral plasma membrane protein (TatA). We show that TatA-GFP diffuses in the plasma membrane with a diffusion coefficient comparable to that of a typical eukaryotic membrane protein. A previous report showed a very low rate of protein diffusion in the E. coli periplasm. However, we measured a GFP diffusion coefficient only slightly smaller in the periplasm than that in the cytoplasm, showing that both cell compartments are relatively fluid environments.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QR Microbiology
Journal or Publication Title:	JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY
Publisher:	AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
ISSN:	0021-9193
Date:	May 2006
Volume:	188
Number:	10
Number of Pages:	7
Page Range:	pp. 3442-3448
Identification Number:	10.1128/JB.188.10.3442-3448.2006
Publication Status:	Published
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/33554

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