Sibling Rivalry in Myxococcus xanthus Is Mediated by Kin Recognition and a Polyploid Prophage.

ABSTRACT:

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Myxobacteria form complex social communities that elicit multicellular behaviors. One such behavior is kin recognition, in which cells identify siblings via their polymorphic TraA cell surface receptor, to transiently fuse outer membranes and exchange their contents. In addition, outer membrane exchange (OME) regulates behaviors, such as inhibition of wild-type Myxococcus xanthus (DK1622) from swarming. Here we monitored the fate of motile cells and surprisingly found they were killed by nonmotile siblings. The kill phenotype required OME (i.e., was TraA dependent). The genetic basis of killing was traced to ancestral strains used to construct DK1622. Specifically, the kill phenotype mapped to a large "polyploid prophage," Mx alpha. Sensitive strains contained a 200-kb d

SUBMITTER: Dey A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4772600 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature