title: Identification and characterization of a putative arginine kinase homolog from Myxococcus xanthus required for fruiting body formation and cell differentiation.
abstract: Arginine kinases catalyze the reversible transfer of a high-energy phosphoryl group from ATP to l-arginine to form phosphoarginine, which is used as an energy buffer in insects, crustaceans, and some unicellular organisms. It plays an analogous role to that of phosphocreatine in vertebrates. Recently, putative arginine kinases were identified in several bacterial species, including the social Gram-negative soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. It is still unclear what role these proteins play in bacteria and whether they have evolved to acquire novel functions in the species in which they are found. In this study, we biochemically purified and characterized a putative M. xanthus arginine kinase, Ark, and demonstrated that it has retained the ability to catalyze the phosphorylation of arginine by using ATP. We also constructed a null mutation in the ark gene and demonstrated its role in both certain stress responses and development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bragg
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajkovic
authors.forename: Chance
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Houten
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Begres
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Naples
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Snider
authors.forename: Dean
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fraga
authors.forename: Mitchell
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singer
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001122:Arginine Kinase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D001122:Arginine Kinase