Figure 1.

Epibiotic predation by the myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus. (A) M. xanthus cells that are placed next to E. coli on a CF agar plate, which only provides a minimal amount of nutrients, expand radially using gliding motility, enter the prey colony, and lyse prey cells. Multicellular fruiting bodies (white arrowhead), in which M. xanthus cells differentiate into spores, start to emerge near the inoculation spot. Preying M. xanthus induces regular cell reversals, which appear as macroscopic ripples within the prey area (yellow arrowhead). The image was taken 2 days after the initial inoculation of predator and prey. (B) M. xanthus secretes hydrolytic enzymes and secondary metabolites, which presumably kill and degrade prey cells for biomass acquisition. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) may contribute to the delivery of these lytic factors. M. xanthus cells typically move and prey in large clusters, but also individual cells are able to induce prey cell lysis.