Diverse spatial organization of photosynthetic membranes among purple nonsulfur bacteria

In diverse bacteria, proper cellular physiology requires the utilization of protein- or membrane-bound compartments that afford specific metabolic capabilities. One such compartment is the light-harvesting intracytoplasmic membrane (ICM) of purple nonsulfur bacteria (PNSB). Here we reveal that ICMs are subject to differential spatial organization among PNSB. We visualized ICMs in live cells of fourteen PNSB species by exploiting the natural autofluorescence of the photosynthetic machinery. We then quantitatively characterized ICM localization using automated computational analysis of autofluorescence patterns within single cells across the population. Our studies revealed that ICMs are localized in distinct subcellular patterns that differ between species; some PNSB elaborate ICMs throughout the cell, while others spatially restrict ICM to varying degrees. The most highly-restricted ICMs were localized in a specific pattern corresponding to progression of cell growth and division. An identical pattern of ICM restriction was conserved across at least two genera. Phylogenetic and phenotypic comparisons established that ICM localization and ICM architecture are not strictly interdependent and that neither trait fully correlates with the evolutionary relatedness of the species. This discovery of new diversity in bacterial cell organization has implications for understanding both the mechanisms underpinning spatial arrangement of bacterial compartments and the potential benefits of adopting different spatiotemporal patterns.