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Journal of Bacteriology, June 2003, p. 3317-3324, Vol. 185, No. 11
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.11.3317-3324.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Novel Developmental Genes, fruCD, of Myxococcus xanthus: Involvement of a Cell Division Protein in Multicellular Development

Takuya Akiyama,1 Sumiko Inouye,2 and Teruya Komano1*

Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minamiohsawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan,1 Department of Biochemistry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey 088542

Received 14 November 2002/ Accepted 4 March 2003

Myxococcus xanthus is a gram-negative soil bacterium that undergoes multicellular development upon nutrient starvation. In the present study, two novel developmental genes, fruC and fruD, of M. xanthus were identified and characterized. The FruD protein has significant amino acid sequence similarity to the DivIVA proteins of many bacteria including Bacillus subtilis. Vegetative cells of the fruD mutant exhibited a filamentous phenotype. The fruC and fruD mutants displayed similar delayed-development phenotypes. The formation of tightly aggregated mounds by fruC and fruD mutants was slower than that by the wild-type strain. Spore formation by the fruC and fruD mutants initiated after 30 h poststarvation, whereas wild-type M. xanthus initiated spore formation after 18 h. The fruCD genes were constitutively expressed as an operon during vegetative growth and development. S1 mapping revealed that transcription initiation sites of the fruCD operon were located 114 (P1) and 55 bp (P2) upstream of the fruC initiation codon. Only the P1 promoter was active during vegetative growth, while both the P1 and P2 promoters were active during development. The FruD protein was produced as a cytoplasmic protein and formed an oligomer during vegetative growth and development.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minamiohsawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan. Phone: 81-426-77-2568. Fax: 81-426-77-2559. E-mail: komano-teruya{at}c.metro-u.ac.jp.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2003, p. 3317-3324, Vol. 185, No. 11
0021-9193/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.185.11.3317-3324.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Rigden, M. D., Baier, C., Ramirez-Arcos, S., Liao, M., Wang, M., Dillon, J.-A. R. (2008). Identification of the Coiled-coil Domains of Enterococcus faecalis DivIVA that Mediate Oligomerization and their Importance for Biological Function. J Biochem 144: 63-76 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vicente, M., Garcia-Ovalle, M. (2007). Making a Point: the Role of DivIVA in Streptococcal Polar Anatomy{triangledown}. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1185-1188 [Full Text]  
  • Ramirez-Arcos, S., Liao, M., Marthaler, S., Rigden, M., Dillon, J.-A. R. (2005). Enterococcus faecalis divIVA: an essential gene involved in cell division, cell growth and chromosome segregation. Microbiology 151: 1381-1393 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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