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Journal of Bacteriology, January 2009, p. 494-505, Vol. 191, No. 2
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00608-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Peptidoglycan Sacculus of Myxococcus xanthus Has Unusual Structural Features and Is Degraded during Glycerol-Induced Myxospore Development{triangledown}

Nhat Khai Bui,1 Joe Gray,2 Heinz Schwarz,3 Peter Schumann,4 Didier Blanot,5 and Waldemar Vollmer1*

Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom,1 ICaMB Pinnacle Lab, Newcastle University, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom,2 Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Spemannstrasse 35, 72076 Tübingen, Germany,3 DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Inhoffenstraße 7B, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany,4 Enveloppes Bactériennes et Antibiotiques, IBBMC, UMR 8619 CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France5

Received 1 May 2008/ Accepted 19 October 2008

Upon nutrient limitation cells of the swarming soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus form a multicellular fruiting body in which a fraction of the cells develop into myxospores. Spore development includes the transition from a rod-shaped vegetative cell to a spherical myxospore and so is expected to be accompanied by changes in the bacterial cell envelope. Peptidoglycan is the shape-determining structure in the cell envelope of most bacteria, including myxobacteria. We analyzed the composition of peptidoglycan isolated from M. xanthus. While the basic structural elements of peptidoglycan in myxobacteria were identical to those in other gram-negative bacteria, the peptidoglycan of M. xanthus had unique structural features. meso- or LL-diaminopimelic acid was present in the stem peptides, and a new modification of N-acetylmuramic acid was detected in a fraction of the muropeptides. Peptidoglycan formed a continuous, bag-shaped sacculus in vegetative cells. The sacculus was degraded during the transition from vegetative cells to glycerol-induced myxospores. The spherical, bag-shaped coats isolated from glycerol-induced spores contained no detectable muropeptides, but they contained small amounts of N-acetylmuramic acid and meso-diaminopimelic acid.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, Medical School, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Catherine Cookson Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United Kingdom. Phone: 44-(0)191-222 6295. Fax: 44-(0)191-222 7424. E-mail: W.Vollmer{at}ncl.ac.uk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 7 November 2008.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2009, p. 494-505, Vol. 191, No. 2
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00608-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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