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On The Spatial Organization Of Mrna, Plasmids, And Ribosomes In A Bacterial Host Overexpressing Membrane Proteins, Lieke A. Van Gijtenbeek, Andrew Robinson, Antoine M. Van Oijen, Bert Poolman, Jan Kok

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

By using fluorescence imaging, we provide a time-resolved single-cell view on coupled defects in transcription, translation, and growth during expression of heterologous membrane proteins in Lactococcus lactis. Transcripts encoding poorly produced membrane proteins accumulate in mRNA-dense bodies at the cell poles, whereas transcripts of a well-expressed homologous membrane protein show membrane-proximal localization in a translation-dependent fashion. The presence of the aberrant polar mRNA foci correlates with cessation of cell division, which is restored once these bodies are cleared. In addition, activation of the heat-shock response and a loss of nucleoid-occluded ribosomes are observed. We show that the presence of a …