Polar explorations. Recent insights into the polarity of bacterial proteins

Abstract

It is now well established in the microbiology community that the spatial organization of bacterial cells is quite complex with proteins and protein complexes localized to specific subcellular regions. Unresolved for the most part, however, are the mechanisms by which asymmetric proteins are localized. A variety of mechanisms are utilized to achieve polarity in bacteria. In this article, we focus on recent findings that support specific mechanisms for the establishment of polarity in rod shaped bacteria. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.