title: The pyruvate kinase of Stigmatella aurantiaca is an indole binding protein and essential for development.
abstract: Myxospore formation of the myxobacterium Stigmatella aurantiaca can be uncoupled from the cooperative development i.e. fruiting body formation, by low concentrations of indole. Two putative indole receptor proteins were isolated by their capacity to bind indole and identified as pyruvate kinase (PK) and aldehyde dehydrogenase. The PK activity of Stigmatella crude extracts was stimulated by indole. Cloning of the PK gene (pykA) and the construction of a pykA disruption mutant strikingly revealed that PK is essential for multicellular development: Fruiting body formation was abolished in the mutant strain and indole-induced spore formation was delayed. The developmental defects could be complemented by insertion of the pykA gene at the mtaB locus of the Stigmatella genome excluding any polar effects of the pykA disruption.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie der Universität Heidelberg (ZMBH), Im Neuenheimer Feld 282, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Irmela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Stamm
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lottspeich
authors.forename: Wulf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Plaga
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D007211:Indoles / Q000378:metabolism*; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009154:Mutation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011770:Pyruvate Kinase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial; D020606:Stigmatella aurantiaca / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007211:Indoles; D011770:Pyruvate Kinase