title: Highly Signal-Responsive Gene Regulatory Network Governing Myxococcus Development.
abstract: The bacterium Myxococcus xanthus undergoes multicellular development when starved. Thousands of cells build mounds in which some differentiate into spores. This remarkable feat and the genetic tractability of Myxococcus provide a unique opportunity to understand the evolution of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Recent work has revealed a GRN involving interconnected cascades of signal-responsive transcriptional activators. Initially, starvation-induced intracellular signals direct changes in gene expression. Subsequently, self-generated extracellular signals provide morphological cues that regulate certain transcriptional activators. However, signals for many of the activators remain to be discovered. A key insight is that activators often work combinatorially, allowing signal integration. The Myxococcus GRN differs strikingly from those governing sporulation of Bacillus and Streptomyces, suggesting that Myxococcus evolved a highly signal-responsive GRN to enable complex multicellular development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. Electronic address: kroos@msu.edu.
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kroos
mesh_terms: D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D016941:Myxococcus xanthus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000235:genetics
keywords: Myxococcus xanthus; bacterial development; gene regulatory network; signal transduction; sporulation