Peripheral rods: a specialized developmental cell type in Myxococcus xanthus.

ABSTRACT: In response to nutrient deprivation, the ubiquitous Gram-negative soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus undergoes a well-characterized developmental response, resulting in the formation of a multicellular fruiting body. The center of the fruiting body consists of myxospores; surrounding this structure are rod-shaped peripheral cells. Unlike spores, the peripheral rods are a metabolically active cell type that inhabits nutrient-deprived environments. The survival characteristics exhibited by peripheral rods, protection from oxidative stress and heat shock, are common survival characteristics exhibited by cells in stationary phase including modifications to morphology and metabolism. Vegetative M. xanthus cells undergo a number of physiological changes during the transition into stationary phase

SUBMITTER: Whitfield DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7810364 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature