A cascade of coregulating enhancer binding proteins initiates and propagates a multicellular developmental program.

ABSTRACT: The signal transduction networks that initiate multicellular development in bacteria remain largely undefined. Here, we report that Myxococcus xanthus regulates entry into its multicellular developmental program using a novel strategy: a cascade of transcriptional activators known as enhancer binding proteins (EBPs). The EBPs in the cascade function in sequential stages of early development, and several lines of evidence indicate that the cascade is propagated when EBPs that function at one stage of development directly regulate transcription of an EBP gene important for the next developmental stage. We also show that the regulatory cascade is designed in a novel way that extensively expands on the typical use of EBPs: Instead of using only one EBP to regulate a particular gene or group of

SUBMITTER: Giglio KM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3156219 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature