A response regulator interfaces between the Frz chemosensory system and the MglA/MglB GTPase/GAP module to regulate polarity in Myxococcus xanthus.

ABSTRACT: How cells establish and dynamically change polarity are general questions in cell biology. Cells of the rod-shaped bacterium Myxococcus xanthus move on surfaces with defined leading and lagging cell poles. Occasionally, cells undergo reversals, which correspond to an inversion of the leading-lagging pole polarity axis. Reversals are induced by the Frz chemosensory system and depend on relocalization of motility proteins between the poles. The Ras-like GTPase MglA localizes to and defines the leading cell pole in the GTP-bound form. MglB, the cognate MglA GTPase activating protein, localizes to and defines the lagging pole. During reversals, MglA-GTP and MglB switch poles and, therefore, dynamically localized motility proteins switch poles. We identified the RomR response regulator, which l

SUBMITTER: Keilberg D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3441718 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature