Nutrient-regulated proteolysis of MrpC halts expression of genes important for commitment to sporulation during Myxococcus xanthus development.

ABSTRACT: Starved Myxococcus xanthus cells glide to aggregation centers and form fruiting bodies in which rod-shaped cells differentiate into ovoid spores. Commitment to development was investigated by adding nutrients at specific times after starvation and determining whether development halted or proceeded. At 24 h poststarvation, some rod-shaped cells were committed to subsequent shape change and to becoming sonication-resistant spores, but nutrients caused partial disaggregation of fruiting bodies. By 30 h poststarvation, 10-fold more cells were committed to becoming sonication-resistant spores, and compact fruiting bodies persisted after nutrient addition. During the critical period of commitment around 24 to 30 h poststarvation, the transcription factors MrpC and FruA cooperatively regulate ge

SUBMITTER: Rajagopalan R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4135671 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature