"Frizzy" genes of Myxococcus xanthus are involved in control of frequency of reversal of gliding motility.
AUTOR(ES)
Blackhart, B D
RESUMO
Myxococcus xanthus, a Gram-negative bacterium, has a complex life cycle that includes fruiting body formation. Frizzy (frz) mutants are unable to aggregate normally, instead forming frizzy filamentous aggregates. We have found that these mutants are defective in the control of cell reversal during gliding motility. Wild-type cells reverse their direction of gliding about every 6.8 min; net movement occurs since the interval between reversals can vary widely. The frzA-C, -E and -F mutants reverse their direction of movement very rarely, about once every 2 hr. These mutants cannot aggregate normally and give rise to frizzy filamentous colonies on fruiting agar or motility agar. In contrast, frzD mutants reverse their direction of movement very frequently, about once every 2.2 min; individual cells show little net movement and form smooth-edged "nonmotile" type colonies. Genetic analysis of the frzD locus shows that mutations in this locus can be dominant to the wild-type allele and that its gene product(s) must interact with the other frz gene products. Our results suggest that the frz genes are part of a system responsible for directed movement of this organism.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=391518Documentos Relacionados
- "Frizzy" aggregation genes of the gliding bacterium Myxococcus xanthus show sequence similarities to the chemotaxis genes of enteric bacteria.
- "Frizzy" mutants: a new class of aggregation-defective developmental mutants of Myxococcus xanthus.
- Gliding Motility Mutants of Myxococcus xanthus
- Myxococcus xanthus dif Genes Are Required for Biogenesis of Cell Surface Fibrils Essential for Social Gliding Motility
- Gliding Motility in Bacteria: Insights from Studies of Myxococcus xanthus
