Mesosomes associated with hydrogen peroxide in bacteria

Abstract

Mesosomes are unique membranous structures in bacteria. It is recognized that the mesosomes should be involved in several fundamental processes. The structure and behaviour of mesosomes have been studied and largely identified, while new evidences of mesosome function have been strikingly obtained. Our previous studies confirmed that hydrogen peroxide is involved in mesosomes formation during cell injury and cell division processes. Mesosome formation is always accompanied by excessive H₂O₂ accumulation. Furthermore, our recent data showed that mesosomes could not only enrich the excess H₂O₂, but also bring the H₂O₂ outside of the cells injured by antibiotics. It is a possibility that the enrichment of H₂O₂ in mesosomes might be a mechanism of drug resistance of bacteria. This article describes the bacterial mesosome and its functions as well as the involvement of hydrogen peroxide in mediating these functions.