Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34669478›Full record

ArticleScience advances2021

Membraneless organelles formed by liquid-liquid phase separation increase bacterial fitness.

Xin Jin, Ji-Eun Lee, Charley Schaefer, Xinwei Luo, Adam J M Wollman, Alex L Payne-Dwyer, Tian Tian, Xiaowei Zhang, Xiao Chen, Yingxing Li and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
67citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

67 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  8. Divergent condensates tune transcriptional responses during stress.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
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  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Mechanisms and Pathological Significance of Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Bacteria.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025
    Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Xin JinBiomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0001-6723-3528
Ji-Eun LeeDepartment of Physics, University of York, York, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-5954-2638
Charley SchaeferDepartment of Physics, University of York, York, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6925-0185
Xinwei LuoBiomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0003-0514-8138
Adam J M WollmanNewcastle University Biosciences Institute, Newcastle, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5501-8131
Alex L Payne-DwyerDepartment of Physics, University of York, York, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-8802-352X
Tian TianBiomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xiaowei ZhangBiomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xiao ChenBiomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0002-8646-7319
Yingxing LiBiomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Tom C B McLeishDepartment of Physics, University of York, York, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-2025-0299
Mark C LeakeDepartment of Physics, University of York, York, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1715-1249
Fan BaiBiomedical Pioneering Innovation Centre (BIOPIC), School of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.ORCID 0000-0001-6119-8936

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Liquid-liquid phase separation is emerging as a crucial phenomenon in several fundamental cell processes. A range of eukaryotic systems exhibit liquid condensates. However, their function in bacteria, which, in general, lack membrane-bound compartments, remains less clear. Here, we used high-resolution optical microscopy to observe single bacterial aggresomes, nanostructured intracellular assemblies of proteins, to undercover their role in cell stress. We find that proteins inside aggresomes are mobile and undergo dynamic turnover, consistent with a liquid state. Our observations are in quantitative agreement with phase-separated liquid droplet formation driven by interacting proteins under thermal equilibrium that nucleate following diffusive collisions in the cytoplasm. We have found aggresomes in multiple species of bacteria and show that these emergent, metastable liquid-structured protein assemblies increase bacterial fitness by enabling cells to tolerate environmental stresses.

Identifiers

PMID34669478
PMCPMC8528417

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.