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 HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sun, H.
Right arrow Articles by Shi, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sun, H.
Right arrow Articles by Shi, W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, August 2001, p. 4786-4795, Vol. 183, No. 16
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.16.4786-4795.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Genetic Studies of mrp, a Locus Essential for Cellular Aggregation and Sporulation of Myxococcus xanthus

Hong Sun and Wenyuan Shi*

Molecular Biology Institute and School of Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095

Received 9 April 2001/Accepted 25 May 2001

Under starvation conditions, Myxococcus xanthus undergoes a complex developmental process which includes cellular aggregation and sporulation. A transposon insertion mutant (the Tn5-Omega 280 mutant) with defects in both aggregation and sporulation was analyzed in this study. The Tn5-Omega 280 mutant was found to have a disrupted NtrC-like response regulator designated Myxococcus regulatory protein B (mrpB). Further sequencing analyses revealed a histidine kinase homolog (mrpA) immediately upstream of mrpB and a cyclic AMP receptor protein-like transcriptional regulator (mrpC) downstream of mrpB. In-frame deletion analyses revealed that both the mrpB and mrpC genes were required for cellular aggregation and sporulation but that only mrpA was required for sporulation only. Site-specific mutagenesis of the putative phosphorylation site of MrpB, D58, showed that a D58A mutation caused defects in both aggregation and sporulation but that a D58E mutation resulted in only a sporulation defect. Further genetic and molecular analyses with reporter genes and reverse transcription-PCR indicated that mrpA and mrpB are cotranscribed but that mrpC is transcribed independently and that all of these genes are developmentally regulated. In addition, MrpB is essential for transcription of mrpC and MrpC regulates its own transcription. These data indicate that Mrp proteins are important components required for M. xanthus development. The complicated interaction between Mrp proteins may play an important role in regulating developmental gene expression in M. xanthus.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: UCLA Molecular Biology Institute and School of Dentistry, P.O. Box 951668, 10833 Le Conte Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1668. Phone: (310) 825-8356. Fax: (310) 794-7109. E-mail: wenyuan{at}ucla.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, August 2001, p. 4786-4795, Vol. 183, No. 16
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.16.4786-4795.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Mittal, S., Kroos, L. (2009). Combinatorial Regulation by a Novel Arrangement of FruA and MrpC2 Transcription Factors during Myxococcus xanthus Development. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2753-2763 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pan, H.-w., Liu, H., Liu, T., Li, C.-y., Li, Z.-f., Cai, K., Zhang, C.-y., Zhang, Y., Hu, W., Wu, Z.-h., Li, Y.-z. (2009). Seawater-Regulated Genes for Two-Component Systems and Outer Membrane Proteins in Myxococcus. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2102-2111 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mittal, S., Kroos, L. (2009). A combination of unusual transcription factors binds cooperatively to control Myxococcus xanthus developmental gene expression. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 1965-1970 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Higgs, P. I., Jagadeesan, S., Mann, P., Zusman, D. R. (2008). EspA, an Orphan Hybrid Histidine Protein Kinase, Regulates the Timing of Expression of Key Developmental Proteins of Myxococcus xanthus. J. Bacteriol. 190: 4416-4426 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Shi, X., Wegener-Feldbrugge, S., Huntley, S., Hamann, N., Hedderich, R., Sogaard-Andersen, L. (2008). Bioinformatics and Experimental Analysis of Proteins of Two-Component Systems in Myxococcus xanthus. J. Bacteriol. 190: 613-624 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ossa, F., Diodati, M. E., Caberoy, N. B., Giglio, K. M., Edmonds, M., Singer, M., Garza, A. G. (2007). The Myxococcus xanthus Nla4 Protein Is Important for Expression of Stringent Response-Associated Genes, ppGpp Accumulation, and Fruiting Body Development. J. Bacteriol. 189: 8474-8483 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Goldman, B. S., Nierman, W. C., Kaiser, D., Slater, S. C., Durkin, A. S., Eisen, J. A., Ronning, C. M., Barbazuk, W. B., Blanchard, M., Field, C., Halling, C., Hinkle, G., Iartchuk, O., Kim, H. S., Mackenzie, C., Madupu, R., Miller, N., Shvartsbeyn, A., Sullivan, S. A., Vaudin, M., Wiegand, R., Kaplan, H. B. (2006). Evolution of sensory complexity recorded in a myxobacterial genome. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 15200-15205 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Viswanathan, P., Singer, M., Kroos, L. (2006). Role of {sigma}D in Regulating Genes and Signals during Myxococcus xanthus Development. J. Bacteriol. 188: 3246-3256 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ueki, T., Inouye, S. (2005). Identification of a Gene Involved in Polysaccharide Export as a Transcription Target of FruA, an Essential Factor for Myxococcus xanthus Development. J. Biol. Chem. 280: 32279-32284 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Li, Y., Bustamante, V. H., Lux, R., Zusman, D., Shi, W. (2005). Divergent Regulatory Pathways Control A and S Motility in Myxococcus xanthus through FrzE, a CheA-CheY Fusion Protein. J. Bacteriol. 187: 1716-1723 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Jelsbak, L., Givskov, M., Kaiser, D. (2005). Enhancer-binding proteins with a forkhead-associated domain and the {sigma}54 regulon in Myxococcus xanthus fruiting body development. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 3010-3015 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nielsen, M., Rasmussen, A. Aa., Ellehauge, E., Treuner-Lange, A., Sogaard-Andersen, L. (2004). HthA, a putative DNA-binding protein, and HthB are important for fruiting body morphogenesis in Myxococcus xanthus. Microbiology 150: 2171-2183 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Yoder, D. R., Kroos, L. (2004). Mutational Analysis of the Myxococcus xanthus {Omega}4400 Promoter Region Provides Insight into Developmental Gene Regulation by C Signaling. J. Bacteriol. 186: 661-671 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Caberoy, N. B., Welch, R. D., Jakobsen, J. S., Slater, S. C., Garza, A. G. (2003). Global Mutational Analysis of NtrC-Like Activators in Myxococcus xanthus: Identifying Activator Mutants Defective for Motility and Fruiting Body Development. J. Bacteriol. 185: 6083-6094 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ueki, T., Inouye, S. (2003). Identification of an activator protein required for the induction of fruA, a gene essential for fruiting body development in Myxococcus xanthus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 8782-8787 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sun, H., Shi, W. (2001). Analyses of mrp Genes during Myxococcus xanthus Development. J. Bacteriol. 183: 6733-6739 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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