title: Phase variation in Myxococcus xanthus yields cells specialized for iron sequestration.
abstract: Myxococcus xanthus undergoes phase variation during growth to produce predominantly two colony phenotypes. The majority are yellow colonies containing swarm-proficient cells and a minority are tan colonies containing swarm-deficient cells. Comparison of the transcriptomes of a yellow variant, a tan variant, and three tan mutants led to the identification of differentially-regulated genes that define key segments of the phase variation pathway. For example, expression of genes for the yellow pigment DKxanthene and the antibiotic myxovirescin was increased significantly in yellow variants. In contrast, expression of the siderophore myxochelin, hemin binding proteins, and iron transport proteins was increased specifically in tan strains. Thus, a consequence of phase variation is that yellow cells shift from producing antibiotic and pigment to producing components involved in acquisition of iron, which may increase fitness during periods of iron limitation. Multiple protein kinases and HTH-Xre DNA-binding proteins identified in this study may be involved in the regulatory hierarchy that governs phase variation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dziewanowska
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Settles
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.affiliation: National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Linquist
authors.affiliation: National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America.
authors.forename: Faye
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schilkey
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, United States of America.
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Hartzell
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D002396:Catechols / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007783:Lactones / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D017262:Siderophores / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015415:Biomarkers; D002396:Catechols; D007783:Lactones; D017262:Siderophores; D007501:Iron
references.citation: Can J Microbiol. 1977 Dec;23(12):1657-62
references.pmid: 413617
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1986 Jun;166(3):837-41
references.pmid: 2940231
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1993 Jun;175(11):3636-47
references.pmid: 8501067
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2006 Jun;60(5):1205-17
references.pmid: 16689796
references.citation: PLoS One. 2010 Dec 29;5(12):e14377
references.pmid: 21206924
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Apr 15;90(8):3378-82
references.pmid: 8475084
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 2011 Sep;193(18):4626-33
references.pmid: 21764930
references.citation: Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2012 Apr;56(4):2014-21
references.pmid: 22232277
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1999 Jan;181(1):24-33
references.pmid: 9864308
references.citation: Stat Appl Genet Mol Biol. 2004;3:Article3
references.pmid: 16646809
references.citation: Bioinformatics. 2003 Jan 22;19(2):185-93
references.pmid: 12538238
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2010 Mar;34(2):89-106
references.pmid: 19895646
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1994 Sep;176(17):5341-9
references.pmid: 8071210
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2011 Aug;81(3):784-804
references.pmid: 21722202
references.citation: Clin Microbiol Rev. 2004 Jul;17(3):581-611, table of contents
references.pmid: 15258095
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2006 Jan;254(2):190-7
references.pmid: 16445745
references.citation: J Antibiot (Tokyo). 1989 Jan;42(1):14-7
references.pmid: 2493439
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1995 Jul;177(14):4089-96
references.pmid: 7608083
references.citation: Appl Environ Microbiol. 2008 May;74(10):3058-68
references.pmid: 18378661
references.citation: Microb Comp Genomics. 2000;5(2):103-20
references.pmid: 11087177
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Dec 12;103(50):19128-33
references.pmid: 17148609
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1966 Feb;91(2):535-45
references.pmid: 5935340
references.citation: Methods Enzymol. 1994;235:329-44
references.pmid: 8057905
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 2011 Oct;193(19):5081-9
references.pmid: 21821771
references.citation: J Cell Biochem. 1993 Jan;51(1):29-33
references.pmid: 8432741
references.citation: Genes Dev. 2010 Apr 15;24(8):754-65
references.pmid: 20351052
references.citation: Curr Biol. 2010 Jun 8;20(11):R480-2
references.pmid: 20541494
references.citation: Anal Biochem. 1987 Jan;160(1):47-56
references.pmid: 2952030
references.citation: Science. 2012 Jul 6;337(6090):88-93
references.pmid: 22767929
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Oct 10;103(41):15200-5
references.pmid: 17015832
references.citation: Nucleic Acids Res. 2011 Jan;39(Database issue):D561-8
references.pmid: 21045058
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1994 Apr;176(7):2013-20
references.pmid: 8144470
references.citation: PLoS One. 2011;6(11):e27475
references.pmid: 22132103
references.citation: Eur J Biochem. 2000 Nov;267(21):6476-85
references.pmid: 11029592
references.citation: Nat Rev Microbiol. 2003 Oct;1(1):45-54
references.pmid: 15040179
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1996 Nov;178(22):6628-31
references.pmid: 8932321
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2006 Jul;61(2):447-56
references.pmid: 16856943
references.citation: Dev Biol. 1986 Sep;117(1):252-66
references.pmid: 3017794
references.citation: Mol Gen Genet. 1989 Sep;218(3):409-18
references.pmid: 2555667
references.citation: Microb Pathog. 2009 Mar;46(3):166-70
references.pmid: 19162160