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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2007, p. 8474-8483, Vol. 189, No. 23
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00894-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Myxococcus xanthus Nla4 Protein Is Important for Expression of Stringent Response-Associated Genes, ppGpp Accumulation, and Fruiting Body Development ^,

Faisury Ossa,^1, Michelle E. Diodati,^2,, Nora B. Caberoy,¹ Krista M. Giglio,¹ Mick Edmonds,^1,¶ Mitchell Singer,^2* and Anthony G. Garza^1*

Department of Biology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244,¹ Section of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616²

Received 7 June 2007/ Accepted 4 September 2007

Changes in gene expression are important for the landmark morphological events that occur during Myxococcus xanthus fruiting body development. Enhancer binding proteins (EBPs), which are transcriptional activators, play prominent roles in the coordinated expression of developmental genes. A mutation in the EBP gene nla4 affects the timing of fruiting body formation, the morphology of mature fruiting bodies, and the efficiency of sporulation. In this study, we showed that the nla4 mutant accumulates relatively low levels of the stringent nucleotide ppGpp. We also found that the nla4 mutant is defective for early developmental events and for vegetative growth, phenotypes that are consistent with a deficiency in ppGpp accumulation. Further studies revealed that nla4 cells produce relatively low levels of GTP, a precursor of RelA-dependent synthesis of (p)ppGpp. In addition, the normal expression patterns of all stringent response-associated genes tested, including the M. xanthus ppGpp synthetase gene relA, are altered in nla4 mutant cells. These findings indicate that Nla4 is part of regulatory pathway that is important for mounting a stringent response and for initiating fruiting body development.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address for A. Garza: Department of Biology, Syracuse University, BRL Room 200, 130 College Place, Syracuse, NY 13244-1220. Phone: (315) 443-4746. Fax: (315) 443-2012. E-mail: agarza{at}syr.edu. Mailing address for M. Singer: Section of Microbiology, One Shields Avenue, University of California, Davis, Davis CA 95616. Phone: (530) 752-9005. Fax: (530) 752-9014. E-mail: mhsinger{at}ucdavis.edu

Published ahead of print on 28 September 2007.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

M.D. and F.O. contributed equally to this work.

Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94306.

^¶ Present address: Integrative Biomedical Sciences Program, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1670 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35243.

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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2007, p. 8474-8483, Vol. 189, No. 23
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00894-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.