In bacteria such as Escherichia coli, DNA is compacted into a nucleoid near the cell center, while ribosomes - molecular complexes that translate messenger RNAs (mRNAs) into proteins - are  localized at the poles. We study the impact of this URLanization using a minimal reaction-diffusion model for the cellular transcriptional-translational machinery. Our model predicts that \sim90\\%DIF < of mRNAs are segregated to the poles, and reveals a "circulation" of ribosomes driven by the non-equilibrium mRNA flux, from synthesis in the nucleoid to degradation at the poles. This circulation increases ribosome efficiency, albeit a larger increase of ribosome efficiency stems directly from the localization of the nucleoid at midcell.abstract %DIF > of mRNAs are segregated to the poles and reveals a "circulation" of ribosomes driven by the flux of mRNAs, from synthesis in the nucleoid to degradation at the poles. To address the existence of non-specific, transient interactions between ribosomes and mRNAs, we developed a novel method to efficiently incorporate such transient interactions into reaction-diffusion equations, which allowed us to quantify the biological implications of such non-specific interactions, e.g. for ribosome efficiency.
In bacteria such as Escherichia coli, DNA is compacted into a nucleoid near the cell center, while ribosomes - molecular complexes that translate messenger RNAs (mRNAs) into proteins - are mainly localized at the poles. We study the impact of this URLanization using a minimal reaction-diffusion model for the cellular transcriptional-translational machinery. Our model predicts that \sim90\\%DIF < of mRNAs are segregated to the poles, and reveals a "circulation" of ribosomes driven by the non-equilibrium mRNA flux, from synthesis in the nucleoid to degradation at the poles. This circulation increases ribosome efficiency, albeit a larger increase of ribosome efficiency stems directly from the localization of the nucleoid at midcell.abstract %DIF > of mRNAs are segregated to the poles and reveals a "circulation" of ribosomes driven by the flux of mRNAs, from synthesis in the nucleoid to degradation at the poles. To address the existence of non-specific, transient interactions between ribosomes and mRNAs, we developed a novel method to efficiently incorporate such transient interactions into reaction-diffusion equations, which allowed us to quantify the biological implications of such non-specific interactions, e.g. for ribosome efficiency.
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mainly