title: Inorganic polyphosphate in the social life of Myxococcus xanthus: motility, development, and predation.
abstract: Inorganic polyphosphate (poly P), a polymer of tens or hundreds of phosphate residues linked by high-energy, ATP-like bonds, is found in all organisms and performs a wide variety of functions. Myxococcus xanthus, a social bacterium that feeds on other bacteria and forms fruiting bodies and spores, depends on poly P for motility, development, and nutritional predation. Two poly P metabolizing enzymes were studied in M. xanthus: poly P kinase 1, which synthesizes poly P reversibly from ATP, and poly P:AMP phosphotransferase, which uses poly P as a donor to also reversibly convert AMP to ADP. The null mutant of ppk1 is defective in social motility, overproduces pilin protein on the cell surface, is delayed in fruiting body formation, produces fewer spores, is delayed in germination, and forms far smaller plaques on a lawn of Klebsiella aerogenes. The pap mutant is also impaired in social motility, but shows only slightly reduced abilities in development and predation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5307, USA.
authors.forename: Haiyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Narayan N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiba
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kornberg
mesh_terms: D000227:Adenine Nucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D021902:Enterobacter aerogenes; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000502:physiology*; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor) / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011122:Polyphosphates / Q000378:metabolism*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000227:Adenine Nucleotides; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011122:Polyphosphates; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; D017853:Phosphotransferases (Alcohol Group Acceptor)