title: MglC, a Paralog of Myxococcus xanthus GTPase-Activating Protein MglB, Plays a Divergent Role in Motility Regulation.
abstract: In order to optimize interactions with their environment and one another, bacteria regulate their motility. In the case of the rod-shaped cells of Myxococcus xanthus, regulated motility is essential for social behaviors. M. xanthus moves over surfaces using type IV pilus-dependent motility and gliding motility. These two motility systems are coordinated by a protein module that controls cell polarity and consists of three polarly localized proteins, the small G protein MglA, the cognate MglA GTPase-activating protein MglB, and the response regulator RomR. Cellular reversals are induced by the Frz chemosensory system, and the output response regulator of this system, FrzZ, interfaces with the MglA/MglB/RomR module to invert cell polarity. Using a computational approach, we identify a paralog of MglB, MXAN_5770 (MglC). Genetic epistasis experiments demonstrate that MglC functions in the same pathway as MglA, MglB, RomR, and FrzZ and is important for regulating cellular reversals. Like MglB, MglC localizes to the cell poles asymmetrically and with a large cluster at the lagging pole. Correct polar localization of MglC depends on RomR and MglB. Consistently, MglC interacts directly with MglB and the C-terminal output domain of RomR, and we identified a surface of MglC that is necessary for the interaction with MglB and for MglC function. Together, our findings identify an additional member of the M. xanthus polarity module involved in regulating motility and demonstrate how gene duplication followed by functional divergence can add a layer of control to the complex cellular processes of motility and motility regulation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Gene duplication and the subsequent divergence of the duplicated genes are important evolutionary mechanisms for increasing both biological complexity and regulation of biological processes. The bacterium Myxococcus xanthus is a soil bacterium with an unusually large genome that carries out several social processes, including predation of other bacterial species and formation of multicellular, spore-filled fruiting bodies. One feature of the large M. xanthus genome is that it contains many gene duplications. Here, we compare the products of one example of gene duplication and divergence, in which a paralog of the cognate MglA GTPase-activating protein MglB has acquired a different and opposing role in the regulation of cellular polarity and motility, processes critical to the bacterium's social behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Anna L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: McLoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wuichet
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Häsler
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Keilberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dobromir
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Szadkowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany sogaard@mpi-marburg.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Lotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Søgaard-Andersen
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009068:Movement; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; C075401:MglC protein, bacteria; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins