Project description:In Myxococcus xanthus 55% of the more than 250 two-component signal transduction systems (TCS) genes are orphan. We hypothesized that the histidine kinase SgmT and the response regulator DigR, which comprises a DNA binding domain of the HTH_Xer type, function together to regulate gene expression. We performed genome-wide expression profiling experiments to determine wether the same set of genes are differentially expressed in the ΔdigR and ΔsgmT mutants.
Project description:Our ChipSeq analysis show that while FrzCD does not bind DNA specific regions, ParB binds parS consistent with what as been previously shown. The FrzCD chemoreceptor from the gliding bacterium Myxococcus xanthus forms cytoplasmic clusters that occupy a large central region of the cell body also occupied by the nucleoid. FrzCD directly binds to the nucleoid and the FrzCD binding to the DNA leads to the formation of chemosensory complexes. This supra-molecular organization is required for cooperative interactions between clustered receptors, in turn important for the modulation of bacterial social behaviors.
