2007/03/01 by Victor Norris, Tanneke den Blaauwen, Armelle Cabin‐Flaman +10 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Materials Science · #Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions #Enzyme Structure and Function
paper · doi:10.1128/mmbr.00035-06
openalex publication_date 2007/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
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.