title: Penicillin and D-Alanyl-D-alanine Accelerate Spore Formation of Myxococcus xanthus Subcultured Cells.
abstract: In repetitive subcultures of Myxococcus xanthus cells, addition of penicillin to the developmental medium accelerated the appearance of the fruiting bodies and spore formation. During development of M. xanthus, DD-carboxypeptidase, which functions in the regulation of the level of cross-linkage, was also induced by penicillin. When D-alanyl-D-alanine, the structure of which is similar to the β-lactam structure of penicillin, was added to the developmental medium, 0.3 to 0.6 mM D-alanyl-D-alanine accelerated spore formation strongly. The activity of D-alanyl-D-alanine ligase, which synthesizes D-alanyl-D-alanine from D-alanine, increased gradually with maximum activity observed at the initial stage of sporulation. These results raise the hypothesis that M. xanthus produces and releases D-alanyl-D-alanine during development, and the released D-alanyl-D-alanine may function as an inducer of sporulation.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: a Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.affiliation: a Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ujibe
authors.affiliation: a Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
keywords: D-alanyl-D-alanine; Myxococcus xanthus; development; penicillin