This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rosario, C. J.
Right arrow Articles by Singer, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rosario, C. J.
Right arrow Articles by Singer, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2007, p. 8793-8800, Vol. 189, No. 24
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01361-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Myxococcus xanthus Developmental Program Can Be Delayed by Inhibition of DNA Replication{triangledown}

Christopher J. Rosario and Mitchell Singer*

Section of Microbiology, The University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616

Received 20 August 2007/ Accepted 20 September 2007

Under conditions of nutrient deprivation, Myxococcus xanthus undergoes a developmental process that results in the formation of a fruiting body containing environmentally resistant myxospores. We have shown that myxospores contain two copies of the genome, suggesting that cells must replicate the genome prior to or during development. To further investigate the role of DNA replication in development, a temperature-sensitive dnaB mutant, DnaBA116V, was isolated from M. xanthus. Unlike what happens in Escherichia coli dnaB mutants, where DNA replication immediately halts upon a shift to a nonpermissive temperature, growth and DNA replication of the M. xanthus mutant ceased after one cell doubling at a nonpermissive temperature, 37°C. We demonstrated that at the nonpermissive temperature the DnaBA116V mutant arrested as a population of 1n cells, implying that these cells could complete one round of the cell cycle but did not initiate new rounds of DNA replication. In developmental assays, the DnaBA116V mutant was unable to develop into fruiting bodies and produced fewer myxospores than the wild type at the nonpermissive temperature. However, the mutant was able to undergo development when it was shifted to a permissive temperature, suggesting that cells had the capacity to undergo DNA replication during development and to allow the formation of myxospores.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Microbiology, The University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95616. Phone: (530) 752-9005. Fax: (530) 752-9014. E-mail: mhsinger{at}ucdavis.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 28 September 2007.

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2007, p. 8793-8800, Vol. 189, No. 24
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01361-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»