Many biomolecular condensates appear to form via spontaneous or driven processes that
have the hallmarks of intracellular phase transitions. This suggests that a common …

The ability to split one cell into two is fundamental to all life, and many bacteria can
accomplish this feat several times per hour with high accuracy. Most bacteria call on an …

Tightly packed complexes of nucleocapsid protein and genomic RNA form the core of
viruses and assemble within viral factories, dynamic compartments formed within the host …

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are unable to adopt a unique 3D structure under
physiological conditions and thus exist as highly dynamic conformational ensembles. IDPs …

Recent investigations in bacteria suggest that membraneless organelles play a crucial role
in the subcellular organization of bacterial cells. However, the biochemical functions and …

Once described as mere “bags of enzymes,” bacterial cells are in fact highly organized, with
many macromolecules exhibiting nonuniform localization patterns. Yet the physical and …

Bacterial chromosomes are folded to compact DNA and facilitate cellular processes.
Studying model bacteria has revealed aspects of chromosome folding that are applicable to …

Progress in development of biophysical analytic approaches has recently crossed paths with
macromolecule condensates in cells. These cell condensates, typically termed liquid-like …

Macromolecular crowding affects the activity of proteins and functional macromolecular
complexes in all cells, including bacteria. Crowding, together with physicochemical …

Liquid-liquid phase-separated (LLPS) states are key to compartmentalizing components in
the absence of membranes; however, it is unclear whether LLPS condensates are actively …