Complementation of sporulation and motility defects in a prokaryote by a eukaryotic GTPase.
The complex prokaryote, Myxococcus xanthus, undergoes a program of multicellular development when starved for nutrients, culminating in sporulation. M. xanthus makes MglA, a 22-kDa, soluble protein that is required for both multicellular development and gliding motility. MglA is similar in sequence to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae SAR1 protein, a member of the Ras/Rab/Rho superfamily of small eukaryotic GTPases. The SAR1 gene, when integrated into the M. xanthus genome, complements the sporulation defect of a DeltamglA strain. A forward, second-site mutation on the M. xanthus chromosome, rpm, in combination with SAR1, restores fruiting body morphogenesis and gliding motility to a DeltamglA strain. The result that the rpm mutation suppresses the substitution of SAR1 for mglA suggests that Sar1p interacts with other M. xanthus proteins to control the motility-dependent aggregation of cells during development.
Hartzell
P L
PL
Department of Microbiology, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844-3052, USA. Hartzell@UIdaho.edu
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases / Q000235:genetics*; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins
D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins; D020558:GTP Phosphohydrolases; D019204:GTP-Binding Proteins; D020559:Monomeric GTP-Binding Proteins; C077395:SAR1 protein, S cerevisiae