Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Visualization of DNA Compaction in Cyanobacteria by High-voltage Cryo-electron Tomography
Published on: July 17, 2018
Physical nature of bacterial cytoplasm
1Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Abstract:
We track the motion of individual fluorescently labeled mRNA molecules inside live E. coli cells. We find that the motion is subdiffusive, with an exponent that is robust to physiological changes, including the disruption of cytoskeletal elements. By modifying the parameters of the RNA molecule and the bacterial cell, we are able to examine the possible mechanisms that can lead to this unique type of motion, especially the effect of macromolecular crowding. We also examine the implications of anomalous diffusion on the kinetics of bacterial gene regulation, in particular, how transcription factors find their DNA targets.
Related Concept Videos
Prokaryotic Cells
Like eukaryotic cells, all prokaryotic cells are surrounded by a plasma membrane, have genetic material in the form of single, circular DNA, a cytoplasm that fills the interior of the cell, and ribosomes that synthesize proteins.
Prokaryotic Cells
Prokaryotic cells
Microbial Morphologies
Cell Inclusions
Cytoplasm
Protein Folding and Misfolding
The cytoplasm is the location for several cellular processes, including protein synthesis and folding. The aqueous nature of the cytosol promotes protein folding such that the hydrophobic amino acid side chains are buried in the protein...

