Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1994 Mar;176(5):1517–1520. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.5.1517-1520.1994

Sensory adaptation during negative chemotaxis in Myxococcus xanthus.

W Shi 1, D R Zusman 1
PMCID: PMC205221  PMID: 8113194

Abstract

Myxococcus xanthus exhibits many tactic movements that require the frz signal transduction system, such as colony swarming and cellular aggregation during fruiting body formation. Previously we demonstrated that the Frz proteins control the chemotactic movements of M. xanthus (W. Shi, T. Köhler, and D. R. Zusman, Mol. Microbiol. 9:601-611, 1993). However it was unclear from that study how chemotaxis might be achieved at the cellular level. In this study, we showed that M. xanthus cells not only modulate the reversal frequency of cell movement in response to repellent stimuli but also exhibit sensory adaptation in response to the continuous presence of nonsaturating repellent stimuli. The sensory adaptation behavior requires FrzF (a putative methyltransferase) and is correlated with the methylation-demethylation of FrzCD, a methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein. These results indicate that negative chemotaxis in M. xanthus is achieved by chemokinesis plus sensory adaptation in a manner analogous to that of the free-swimming enteric bacteria.

Full text

PDF
1517

Images in this article

1519Image
on p.1519

Selected References

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

  1. Blackhart B. D., Zusman D. R. "Frizzy" genes of Myxococcus xanthus are involved in control of frequency of reversal of gliding motility. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Dec;82(24):8767–8770. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.24.8767. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Campos J. M., Zusman D. R. Regulation of development in Myxococcus xanthus: effect of 3':5'-cyclic AMP, ADP, and nutrition. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Feb;72(2):518–522. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.2.518. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dworkin M., Eide D. Myxococcus xanthus does not respond chemotactically to moderate concentration gradients. J Bacteriol. 1983 Apr;154(1):437–442. doi: 10.1128/jb.154.1.437-442.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Goy M. F., Springer M. S., Adler J. Failure of sensory adaptation in bacterial mutants that are defective in a protein methylation reaction. Cell. 1978 Dec;15(4):1231–1240. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(78)90049-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Goy M. F., Springer M. S., Adler J. Sensory transduction in Escherichia coli: role of a protein methylation reaction in sensory adaptation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Nov;74(11):4964–4968. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.11.4964. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Macnab R. M., Koshland D. E., Jr The gradient-sensing mechanism in bacterial chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Sep;69(9):2509–2512. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.9.2509. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. McBride M. J., Köhler T., Zusman D. R. Methylation of FrzCD, a methyl-accepting taxis protein of Myxococcus xanthus, is correlated with factors affecting cell behavior. J Bacteriol. 1992 Jul;174(13):4246–4257. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.13.4246-4257.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. McBride M. J., Weinberg R. A., Zusman D. R. "Frizzy" aggregation genes of the gliding bacterium Myxococcus xanthus show sequence similarities to the chemotaxis genes of enteric bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Jan;86(2):424–428. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.2.424. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. McCleary W. R., McBride M. J., Zusman D. R. Developmental sensory transduction in Myxococcus xanthus involves methylation and demethylation of FrzCD. J Bacteriol. 1990 Sep;172(9):4877–4887. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.9.4877-4887.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. McCleary W. R., Zusman D. R. FrzE of Myxococcus xanthus is homologous to both CheA and CheY of Salmonella typhimurium. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(15):5898–5902. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.15.5898. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. McCleary W. R., Zusman D. R. Purification and characterization of the Myxococcus xanthus FrzE protein shows that it has autophosphorylation activity. J Bacteriol. 1990 Dec;172(12):6661–6668. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.12.6661-6668.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Segall J. E., Block S. M., Berg H. C. Temporal comparisons in bacterial chemotaxis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Dec;83(23):8987–8991. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.23.8987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shi W., Köhler T., Zusman D. R. Chemotaxis plays a role in the social behaviour of Myxococcus xanthus. Mol Microbiol. 1993 Aug;9(3):601–611. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb01720.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shi W., Zusman D. R. The two motility systems of Myxococcus xanthus show different selective advantages on various surfaces. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Apr 15;90(8):3378–3382. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.8.3378. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Yonekawa H., Hayashi H., Parkinson J. S. Requirement of the cheB function for sensory adaptation in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1983 Dec;156(3):1228–1235. doi: 10.1128/jb.156.3.1228-1235.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES