Myxococcus xanthus gliding motors are elastically coupled to the substrate as predicted by the focal adhesion model of gliding motility.

ABSTRACT: Myxococcus xanthus is a model organism for studying bacterial social behaviors due to its ability to form complex multi-cellular structures. Knowledge of M. xanthus surface gliding motility and the mechanisms that coordinated it are critically important to our understanding of collective cell behaviors. Although the mechanism of gliding motility is still under investigation, recent experiments suggest that there are two possible mechanisms underlying force production for cell motility: the focal adhesion mechanism and the helical rotor mechanism, which differ in the biophysics of the cell-substrate interactions. Whereas the focal adhesion model predicts an elastic coupling, the helical rotor model predicts a viscous coupling. Using a combination of computational modeling, imaging, and forc

SUBMITTER: Balagam R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4014417 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature