Role in Cell Shape
Crescentin was recently discovered in the prokaryote Caulobacter crescentus, an aquatic bacterium which uses its crescent-shaped cells for enhanced motility. The crescentin protein is located on the concave face of these cells and appears to be necessary for their shape, as mutants lacking the protein form rod-shaped cells. To influence the shape of the Caulobacter cells, the helices of crescentin filaments associate with the cytoplasmic side of the cell membrane on one lateral side of the cell. This induces a curved cell shape in younger cells, which are shorter than the helical pitch of crescentin, but induces a spiral shape in older, longer cells.
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