title: An evolutionary link between capsular biogenesis and surface motility in bacteria.
abstract: Studying the evolution of macromolecular assemblies is important to improve our understanding of how complex cellular structures evolved, and to identify the functional building blocks that are involved. Recent studies suggest that the macromolecular complexes that are involved in two distinct processes in Myxococcus xanthus - surface motility and sporulation - are derived from an ancestral polysaccharide capsule assembly system. In this Opinion article, we argue that the available data suggest that the motility machinery evolved from this capsule assembly system following a gene duplication event, a change in carbohydrate polymer specificity and the acquisition of additional proteins by the motility complex, all of which are key features that distinguish the motility and sporulation systems. Furthermore, the presence of intermediates of these systems in bacterial genomes suggests a testable evolutionary model for their emergence and spread.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Aix-Marseille Université, 31 chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Rym
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Agrebi
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Aix-Marseille Université, 31 chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Morgane
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wartel
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biométrie et Biologie Évolutive, 43 boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brochier-Armanet
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Aix-Marseille Université, 31 chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13009 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Tâm
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mignot
mesh_terms: D016667:Bacterial Capsules / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*