Mapping of
 Myxococcus xanthus
 Social Motility
 dsp
 Mutations to the
 dif
 Genes

Lancero, Hope; Brofft, Jennifer E.; Downard, J S; Birren, Bruce W.; Nusbaum, Chad; Naylor, Jerome; Shi, Wenyuan; Shimkets, Lawrence J.

doi:10.1128/jb.184.5.1462-1465.2002

Cited by 33 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…DifA was previously predicted to be a 43.5-kDa protein with an ATG start codon ( Fig. 1A) (10,17,29,48). However, its apparent molecular mass is about 50 kDa, as estimated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the signaling mechanism utilized by DifA is not well understood, especially in regard to EPS regulation. Previous bioinformatics analysis predicted that DifA starts immediately with its first transmembrane helix (TM1), which is followed by a 10-residue periplasmic region, the second TM helix (TM2), and the cytoplasmic signaling domain (29,48). The lack of an obvious signal sensory domain, whether at the cytoplasmic N terminus or in the periplasm, was perplexing.…”

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confidence: 99%

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DifA, a Methyl-Accepting Chemoreceptor Protein-Like Sensory Protein, Uses a Novel Signaling Mechanism to Regulate Exopolysaccharide Production inMyxococcus xanthus

Black

Nascimi

et al. 2011

J Bacteriol

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

DifA, a Methyl-Accepting Chemoreceptor Protein-Like Sensory Protein, Uses a Novel Signaling Mechanism to Regulate Exopolysaccharide Production inMyxococcus xanthus

Black

Nascimi

et al. 2011

J Bacteriol

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“…The PPK1 mutant, which is strikingly defective in S-motility, accumulates an excessive amount of the cell-surface pilin; this hyperpiliation phenotype is likely due to an insufficient amount of fibril EPS (27) and perhaps other fibril components. Biogenesis of EPS involves genes eps and eas (35), a DnaK homolog (encoded by sglK) (36), chemotaxis homologues (dif ) genes (37), and some uncharacterized dsp genes. EPS-deficient mutants fail to bind calcofluor white dye (38) and are defective in cellular agglutination, S-motility, and fruiting body formation (25,26), phenotypes similar to those in the PPK1 mutant.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inorganic polyphosphate in the social life of Myxococcus xanthus : Motility, development, and predation

Zhang

Rao

Shiba

et al. 2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Inorganic polyphosphate (poly P), a polymer of tens or hundreds of phosphate residues linked by high-energy, ATP-like bonds, is found in all organisms and performs a wide variety of functions. Myxococcus xanthus, a social bacterium that feeds on other bacteria and forms fruiting bodies and spores, depends on poly P for motility, development, and nutritional predation. Two poly P metabolizing enzymes were studied in M. xanthus: poly P kinase 1, which synthesizes poly P reversibly from ATP, and poly P:AMP phosphotransferase, which uses poly P as a donor to also reversibly convert AMP to ADP. The null mutant of ppk1 is defective in social motility, overproduces pilin protein on the cell surface, is delayed in fruiting body formation, produces fewer spores, is delayed in germination, and forms far smaller plaques on a lawn of Klebsiella aerogenes. The pap mutant is also impaired in social motility, but shows only slightly reduced abilities in development and predation.

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“…2, Right). To eliminate the possibility that stimulation was caused by extracellular complementation of exopolysaccharide (EPS) molecules, we tested whether a dsp/dif mutant, which is defective in EPS production (25,26), could be stimulated for motility. Using the same procedure, we observed that motility was not stimulated in this strain (Fig.…”

Section: Ome Rescues the Motility And Development Of O-antigen Mutantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cell rejuvenation and social behaviors promoted by LPS exchange in myxobacteria

Vassallo

Pathak

Cao

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Bacterial cells in their native environments must cope with factors that compromise the integrity of the cell. The mechanisms of coping with damage in a social or multicellular context are poorly understood. Here we investigated how a model social bacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, approaches this problem. We focused on the social behavior of outer membrane exchange (OME), in which cells transiently fuse and exchange their outer membrane (OM) contents. This behavior requires TraA, a homophilic cell surface receptor that identifies kin based on similarities in a polymorphic region, and the TraB cohort protein. As observed by electron microscopy, TraAB overexpression catalyzed a prefusion OM junction between cells. We then showed that damage sustained by the OM of one population was repaired by OME with a healthy population. Specifically, LPS mutants that were defective in motility and sporulation were rescued by OME with healthy donors. In addition, a mutant with a conditional lethal mutation in lpxC, an essential gene required for lipid A biosynthesis, was rescued by Tradependent interactions with a healthy population. Furthermore, lpxC cells with damaged OMs, which were more susceptible to antibiotics, had resistance conferred to them by OME with healthy donors. We also show that OME has beneficial fitness consequences to all cells. Here, in merged populations of damaged and healthy cells, OME catalyzed a dilution of OM damage, increasing developmental sporulation outcomes of the combined population by allowing it to reach a threshold density. We propose that OME is a mechanism that myxobacteria use to overcome cell damage and to transition to a multicellular organism.Myxococcus xanthus | outer membrane | lipopolysaccharide | lpxC | fusion A fundamental question in biology is how cells cope with damage. Microbes occupy diverse habitats fraught with physical, biological, and chemical insults (1, 2). UV radiation, desiccation, predation, extracellular enzymes, antimicrobial compounds, pH, temperature, and osmolarity changes are all stresses to the individual cell. In addition, when cells are in nutrient-poor environments, cell division can be rare, taking days to months to complete (3). In a slow-growing state, cell-surface components that may not be undergoing active repair can accumulate damage through natural aging processes such as oxidation (4, 5) and protein denaturation. Although internal cell stress response pathways are known (6), mechanisms to cope with cell surface damage are less well understood.Although cell damage threatens the fitness of the individual, social organisms have strength in numbers. The strategy of kin selection allows evolutionarily viable cooperation between individuals in a closely related population (7). Communication between individuals and sharing of resources establishes the potential for assistance between individual population members. Social support can be beneficial when the fitness of individuals in a group depends on collaborative behaviors such as prey hunting or the developm...

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Mapping of Myxococcus xanthus Social Motility dsp Mutations to the dif Genes

Cited by 33 publications

References 35 publications

DifA, a Methyl-Accepting Chemoreceptor Protein-Like Sensory Protein, Uses a Novel Signaling Mechanism to Regulate Exopolysaccharide Production inMyxococcus xanthus

DifA, a Methyl-Accepting Chemoreceptor Protein-Like Sensory Protein, Uses a Novel Signaling Mechanism to Regulate Exopolysaccharide Production inMyxococcus xanthus

Inorganic polyphosphate in the social life of Myxococcus xanthus : Motility, development, and predation

Cell rejuvenation and social behaviors promoted by LPS exchange in myxobacteria

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