A mutation that affects fibril protein, development, cohesion and gene expression in Myxococcus xanthus.

Microbiology
Daniel R Smith, Martin Dworkin

Abstract

Extracellular matrix fibrils are involved in the cell-cell interactions of the social prokaryote, Myxococcus xanthus. The fibrils are composed of a carbohydrate backbone and a set of five integral fibrillar proteins (IFPs) ranging from 14 to 66 kDa. As part of an attempt to understand the function(s) of the IFPs, a mutant (ifp-1:20) was generated that lacks IFP-1:20, one of the fibril proteins, as shown by Western blot analysis of both whole cells and isolated fibrils. Unlike those of the parent strain, the fibrils of the mutant were removed easily from the cells by shear forces. Development in ifp-1:20 was aberrant--aggregation and early mound formation were delayed by 6-10 h and mature fruiting bodies never formed. Myxospore production was also greatly reduced. Additionally, fibril-mediated cohesion in ifp-1:20 was changed. Cohesion resulted in chains of cells rather than the characteristic clumps of cells seen for the parent strain. Isolated ifp-1:20 fibrils, unlike wild-type fibrils, could not rescue cohesion of non-cohesive, fibril-negative dsp cells, supporting the notion that the fibrils were functionally altered. The mutation also reduced developmental gene expression by three- to fourfold in omega 4521, a transposon in...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 3, 1999·BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology·M Dworkin
Dec 28, 1999·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·H SunW Shi
Nov 5, 1999·Annual Review of Microbiology·L J Shimkets
Apr 16, 2008·FEMS Microbiology Ecology·Michiel Vos, Gregory J Velicer
Aug 9, 2006·Plasmid·José Luis Ruiz-BarbaRufino Jiménez-Díaz
Feb 27, 1999·Journal of Bacteriology·S H KimJ Downard

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