Change of paradigm in PVC biology

It has been a while that it has been in the air. It is about time that the single handed view of a few is being opposed by a more constructive interpretation. Published in Trends in Microbiology, DP Devos propose to interpret PVC cell plan in a classical Gram-negative framework. This has been previously heralded by works like the one of anammox genome or Speth article, but never before in a so detailed and descriptive way. The following quote applies wonderfully to the period previous to this publication:

"With rare exceptions, most scientific ideas arise out of an earlier period of confusion, contradiction, and partial truths." EA Carlson "Mendel's legacy"

This was timely. And we are looking forward to constructive evaluation of this new framework.

How much should we spend on Science and how much we get back?

If you have ever wondered why we need to fund science, keep on reading. Fascinating analysis on the political and economical implications on Science spending published by WH Press in Science.

Special Issue of AvL on the first PVC meeting

And the Special issue of Antonie van Leeuwenhoek entirely dedicated to the 1st PVC conference is now online at the AvL web site. It includes, an introduction by the organisers, a review and historical perspective, contributions by some keynote speakers and original contributions from the talks. Very nice way to wrap up the first PVC conference and a great way to keep on track if you missed it.

Articles from the first PVC workshop

Most of the article from Special Issue of the publication Antonie van Leeuwenhoek dedicated to the first PVC workshop are now available on the pre-publication page of the AvL. Articles are available freely for a short time, so get them while you can. I have just been told that the SI will be freely available for the rest of the year. That is a very good news. Summary of the workshop and of the articles in the SI can be found in Introduction article by Devos, Jogler and Fuerst. The whole special issue is in production phase and should be available soon. Stay tuned.

First book on PVC published

The first book entirely dedicated to Planctomycetes bacteria is eventually out. It is published by Springer and is entitled Planctomycetes: Cell Structure, Origins and Biology, Editor: Fuerst JA. It is the first book on planctomycetes focused on their cell biology. It provides details on the significant ecology and enviromental significance of planctomycetes. And it is valuable for those in the field of planctomycetology and those entering it for the first time. Here is the introduction:

"Planctomycetes, and their relatives within the PVC superphylum of domain Bacteria, including verrucomicrobia and chlamydia, challenge our classical concept of the bacterium and its modes of life and provide new experimental models for exploring evolutionary cell biology and the full diversity of how living cells can be organized internally. Unique among Bacteria they include species possessing cells with intracellular membrane-bounded compartments and a peptidoglycan-less cell wall, and bacteria such as the anammox organisms performing unique anaerobic ammonium oxidation significant for global nitrogen cycle. The book introduces these fascinating and important bacteria and deals in detail with their unusual structure, physiology, genomics and evolutionary significance. It is a definitive summary of our recent knowledge of this important distinctive group of bacteria, microorganisms which challenge our very concept of the bacterium."

The book is limited to Planctomycetes, but there is also some considerations of the other PVC members, mainly the Verrucomicrobia and Chlamydiae.

ISBN 978-1-62703-502-6

Quick guide to Gemmata obscuriglobus

A beginner's guide to our favorite bacterium has just been released in Current Biology. This is the perfect starting point if you are interested in microbiology's platypus. Current Biology's Quick Guides aim to give readers 'everything you need to know about...' for topics they're likely to see fairly regularly in major journals but aren't up to speed with. This one starts like this "What is Gemmata obscuriglobus? Gemmata obscuriglobus is the standard bearer of a group of bacteria that has recently been the focus of interest in cellular, environmental, medical and evolutionary biology. G. obscuriglobus bacteria have been dubbed the ‘platypus of microbiology’ because of their peculiar characteristics usually not observed in bacteria, including some that are more commonly associated with eukaryotes and archaea."

Three-Dimensional Reconstruction of Bacteria with a Complex Endomembrane System

That is it, our last paper is out, Santarella-Mellwig et al., PLoS Biology 2013. In this paper, we investigated the three-dimensional organization of the complex endomembrane system in the planctomycete bacterium Gemmata obscuriglobus. We reveal that the G. obscuriglobus cells are neither compartmentalized nor nucleated, contrary to previous claims, as none of the spaces created by the membrane invaginations is topologically closed; instead, they are all interconnected. The organization of cellular space is similar to that of a classical Gram-negative bacterium modified by the presence of large invaginations of the inner membrane inside the cytoplasm. Thus, the membrane organization of G. obscuriglobus, and most likely all PVC members, is not fundamentally different from, but is rather an extension of, the “classical” Gram-negative bacterial membrane system.

See also the blog post cleaverly entitled Bacterium excluded from the Eukaryote Club