MlpA, a lipoprotein required for normal development of Myxococcus xanthus.
The mlpA gene encoding a 236-residue polypeptide has been identified immediately downstream of the oar gene of Myxococcus xanthus (M. Martinez-Canamero, J. Munoz-Dorado, E. Farez-Vidal, M. Inouye, and S. Inouye, J. Bacteriol. 175:4756-4763, 1993). The amino-terminal 21 residues of MlpA encode a typical prokaryotic signal sequence with a putative lipoprotein cleavage site. When expressed in Escherichia coli in the presence of [2-3H]glycerol, 3H-labeled MlpA had a molecular mass of 33 kDa and was found to be associated with the membrane fraction. Globomycin, an inhibitor of signal peptidase II, caused a shift in the mobility of E. coli-expressed MlpA to 35 kDa. Subsequently, a mlpA disruption strain (oar+) was constructed and found to have delayed fruiting body formation (by approximately 36 h), with significantly larger fruiting bodies being produced compared with those of the wild-type strain. Nevertheless, spore yields for the two strains were identical after 120 h of development. These data indicate that MlpA, the lipoprotein identified in M. xanthus, is required for normal fruiting body formation.
Department of Biochemistry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.
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Hanlon
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Martinez-Canamero
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Inouye
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D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D010455:Peptides
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008074:Lipoproteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D010455:Peptides; C097147:mlpA protein, Myxococcus xanthus; C017339:globomycin