Light-Triggered Carotenogenesis in Myxococcus xanthus: New Paradigms in Photosensory Signaling, Transduction and Gene Regulation.

ABSTRACT: Myxobacteria are Gram-negative δ-proteobacteria found predominantly in terrestrial habitats and often brightly colored due to the biosynthesis of carotenoids. Carotenoids are lipophilic isoprenoid pigments that protect cells from damage and death by quenching highly reactive and toxic oxidative species, like singlet oxygen, generated upon growth under light. The model myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus turns from yellow in the dark to red upon exposure to light because of the photoinduction of carotenoid biosynthesis. How light is sensed and transduced to bring about regulated carotenogenesis in order to combat photooxidative stress has been extensively investigated in M. xanthus using genetic, biochemical and high-resolution structural methods. These studies have unearthed new paradigms in

SUBMITTER: Padmanabhan S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8156234 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature