Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1994 Dec;176(23):7190–7196. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.23.7190-7196.1994

Isolated fibrils rescue cohesion and development in the Dsp mutant of Myxococcus xanthus.

B Y Chang 1, M Dworkin 1
PMCID: PMC197106  PMID: 7961490

Abstract

Extracellular fibrils are involved in cell cohesion and cell development in Myxococcus xanthus. One group of social motility mutants, Dsp, is unable to produce extracellular fibrils; these mutants also lose the abilities to cohere and to develop. Extracellular fibrils isolated from vegetative wild-type cells and added to Dsp cells fully restored the abilities of these cells to cohere and to undergo normal morphological development. The fibrils thus mimic the ability of intact, wild-type cells to carry out the same rescue. Optimal cohesion rescue by fibrils required calcium and magnesium ions, did not require protein synthesis, but was energy dependent, i.e., sodium azide and sodium cyanide blocked rescue. Cohesion rescue was also blocked by the diazo dye Congo red. Cohesion rescue is genus specific, i.e., isolated fibrils did not cause the cohesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus mirabilis, Escherichia coli, or the related myxobacterium Stigmatella aurantiaca. Developmental rescue of Dsp by isolated fibrils included aggregation, fruiting body formation, and myxospore morphogenesis. Developmental gene expression in the Dsp mutant was only partially rescued by the isolated fibrils.

Full text

PDF
7190

Images in this article

7193Image
on p.7193
7194Image
on p.7194

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Arnold J. W., Shimkets L. J. Cell surface properties correlated with cohesion in Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1988 Dec;170(12):5771–5777. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.12.5771-5777.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Arnold J. W., Shimkets L. J. Inhibition of cell-cell interactions in Myxococcus xanthus by congo red. J Bacteriol. 1988 Dec;170(12):5765–5770. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.12.5765-5770.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bakker E. P., Randall L. L. The requirement for energy during export of beta-lactamase in Escherichia coli is fulfilled by the total protonmotive force. EMBO J. 1984 Apr;3(4):895–900. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb01902.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Behmlander R. M., Dworkin M. Biochemical and structural analyses of the extracellular matrix fibrils of Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1994 Oct;176(20):6295–6303. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.20.6295-6303.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Behmlander R. M., Dworkin M. Extracellular fibrils and contact-mediated cell interactions in Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1991 Dec;173(24):7810–7820. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.24.7810-7820.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Behmlander R. M., Dworkin M. Integral proteins of the extracellular matrix fibrils of Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1994 Oct;176(20):6304–6311. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.20.6304-6311.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chang B. Y., White D. Cell surface modifications induced by calcium ion in the myxobacterium Stigmatella aurantiaca. J Bacteriol. 1992 Sep;174(18):5780–5787. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.18.5780-5787.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Clemans D. L., Chance C. M., Dworkin M. A development-specific protein in Myxococcus xanthus is associated with the extracellular fibrils. J Bacteriol. 1991 Nov;173(21):6749–6759. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.21.6749-6759.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dana J. R., Shimkets L. J. Regulation of cohesion-dependent cell interactions in Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1993 Jun;175(11):3636–3647. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.11.3636-3647.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Enequist H. G., Hirst T. R., Harayama S., Hardy S. J., Randall L. L. Energy is required for maturation of exported proteins in Escherichia coli. Eur J Biochem. 1981 May 15;116(2):227–233. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1981.tb05323.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. FLUEGEL W. SIMPLE METHOD FOR DEMONSTRATING MYXOBACTERIAL SLIME. J Bacteriol. 1963 May;85:1173–1174. doi: 10.1128/jb.85.5.1173-1174.1963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hagen D. C., Bretscher A. P., Kaiser D. Synergism between morphogenetic mutants of Myxococcus xanthus. Dev Biol. 1978 Jun;64(2):284–296. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(78)90079-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hodgkin J., Kaiser D. Cell-to-cell stimulation of movement in nonmotile mutants of Myxococcus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Jul;74(7):2938–2942. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.7.2938. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kroos L., Kuspa A., Kaiser D. A global analysis of developmentally regulated genes in Myxococcus xanthus. Dev Biol. 1986 Sep;117(1):252–266. doi: 10.1016/0012-1606(86)90368-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Li S. F., Shimkets L. J. Effect of dsp mutations on the cell-to-cell transmission of CsgA in Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1993 Jun;175(11):3648–3652. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.11.3648-3652.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Liotta L. A., Rao C. N. Role of the extracellular matrix in cancer. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1985;460:333–344. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1985.tb51180.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. O'Connor K. A., Zusman D. R. Genetic analysis of tag mutants of Myxococcus xanthus provides evidence for two developmental aggregation systems. J Bacteriol. 1990 Jul;172(7):3868–3878. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.7.3868-3878.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rosenbluh A., Eisenbach M. Effect of mechanical removal of pili on gliding motility of Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1992 Aug;174(16):5406–5413. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.16.5406-5413.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Shimkets L. J. Correlation of energy-dependent cell cohesion with social motility in Myxococcus xanthus. J Bacteriol. 1986 Jun;166(3):837–841. doi: 10.1128/jb.166.3.837-841.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Shimkets L. J., Kaiser D. Induction of coordinated movement of Myxococcus xanthus cells. J Bacteriol. 1982 Oct;152(1):451–461. doi: 10.1128/jb.152.1.451-461.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Shimkets L. J., Rafiee H. CsgA, an extracellular protein essential for Myxococcus xanthus development. J Bacteriol. 1990 Sep;172(9):5299–5306. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.9.5299-5306.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Shimkets L. J. Role of cell cohesion in Myxococcus xanthus fruiting body formation. J Bacteriol. 1986 Jun;166(3):842–848. doi: 10.1128/jb.166.3.842-848.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES