title: Novel developmental genes, fruCD, of Myxococcus xanthus: involvement of a cell division protein in multicellular development.
abstract: Myxococcus xanthus is a gram-negative soil bacterium that undergoes multicellular development upon nutrient starvation. In the present study, two novel developmental genes, fruC and fruD, of M. xanthus were identified and characterized. The FruD protein has significant amino acid sequence similarity to the DivIVA proteins of many bacteria including Bacillus subtilis. Vegetative cells of the fruD mutant exhibited a filamentous phenotype. The fruC and fruD mutants displayed similar delayed-development phenotypes. The formation of tightly aggregated mounds by fruC and fruD mutants was slower than that by the wild-type strain. Spore formation by the fruC and fruD mutants initiated after 30 h poststarvation, whereas wild-type M. xanthus initiated spore formation after 18 h. The fruCD genes were constitutively expressed as an operon during vegetative growth and development. S1 mapping revealed that transcription initiation sites of the fruCD operon were located 114 (P1) and 55 bp (P2) upstream of the fruC initiation codon. Only the P1 promoter was active during vegetative growth, while both the P1 and P2 promoters were active during development. The FruD protein was produced as a cytoplasmic protein and formed an oligomer during vegetative growth and development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minamiohsawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: Sumiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inouye
authors.forename: Teruya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Komano
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002455:Cell Division; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis; D009154:Mutation; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D009876:Operon; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C075517:DIV+ protein, Bacillus subtilis; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins