Genetic determinants of self identity and social recognition in bacteria.
The bacterium Proteus mirabilis is capable of movement on solid surfaces by a type of motility called swarming. Boundaries form between swarming colonies of different P. mirabilis strains but not between colonies of a single strain. A fundamental requirement for boundary formation is the ability to discriminate between self and nonself. We have isolated mutants that form boundaries with their parent. The mutations map within a six-gene locus that we term ids for identification of self. Five of the genes in the ids locus are required for recognition of the parent strain as self. Three of the ids genes are interchangeable between strains, and two encode specific molecular identifiers.
Gibbs
Karine A
KA
Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Urbanowski
Mark L
ML
Greenberg
E Peter
EP
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009068:Movement; D005810:Multigene Family; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009154:Mutation; D011513:Proteus mirabilis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
D001426:Bacterial Proteins