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A metabolic assembly line in bacteria

The bacterial cytoplasm is rich in filament-forming proteins, from homologues of eukaryotic cytoskeletal elements to other scaffolding and segregation proteins. We now learn that even the metabolic enzyme CTP synthase forms cytoplasmic filaments that affect bacterial cell shape.

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Figure 1: The recent increase in knowledge about filamentous structures in the cytoplasm of walled bacteria.
Figure 2: Possible purposes of CTP synthase polymerization.

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Correspondence to Christine Jacobs-Wagner.

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Cabeen, M., Jacobs-Wagner, C. A metabolic assembly line in bacteria. Nat Cell Biol 12, 731–733 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb0810-731

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