title: Production of an extracellular milk-clotting activity during development in Myxococcus xanthus.
abstract: We describe here an extracellular proteolytic activity secreted during both growth and submerged development by Myxococcus xanthus DK1622. This activity yields the clotting of kappa-casein at pH 6 and is inhibited by specific inhibitors of aspartic proteases. Secretion of this milk-clotting proteolytic activity (of Mcp) is time regulated during the developmental cycle, with a large increase near 9 h poststarvation, but its production does not require cell-cell contact. The lack of secretion of this activity by several developmental mutants in submerged development conditions shows that Mcp production is developmentally regulated.
authors.affiliation: Equipe de Microbiologie, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique URA 203, Mount-Saint-Aignan, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Guespin-Michel
mesh_terms: D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D009154:Mutation; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; C022517:rennin-like enzyme (Aspergillus ochraceus)