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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2004, p. 919-927, Vol. 186, No. 4
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.4.919-927.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Dynamics of Fruiting Body Morphogenesis

Dale Kaiser* and Roy Welch{dagger}

Departments of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

Received 18 June 2003/ Accepted 4 November 2003

Myxobacteria build their species-specific fruiting bodies by cell movement and then differentiate spores in specific places within that multicellular structure. New steps in the developmental aggregation of Myxococcus xanthus were discovered through a frame-by-frame analysis of a motion picture. The formation and fate of 18 aggregates were captured in the time-lapse movie. Still photographs of 600 other aggregates were also analyzed. M. xanthus has two engines that propel the gliding of its rod-shaped cells: slime-secreting jets at the rear and retractile pili at the front. The earliest aggregates are stationary masses of cells that look like three-dimensional traffic jams. We propose a model in which both engines stall as the cells' forward progress is blocked by other cells in the traffic jam. We also propose that these blockades are eventually circumvented by the cell's capacity to turn, which is facilitated by the push of slime secretion at the rear of each cell and by the flexibility of the myxobacterial cell wall. Turning by many cells would transform a traffic jam into an elliptical mound, in which the cells are streaming in closed orbits. Pairs of adjacent mounds are observed to coalesce into single larger mounds, probably reflecting the fusion of orbits in the adjacent mounds. Although fruiting bodies are relatively large structures that contain 105 cells, no long-range interactions between cells were evident. For aggregation, M. xanthus appears to use local interactions between its cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departments of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. Phone: (650) 723-6165. Fax: (650) 725-7739. E-mail: kaiser{at}cmgm.stanford.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Biology Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244.

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2004, p. 919-927, Vol. 186, No. 4
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.4.919-927.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Curtis, P. D., Taylor, R. G., Welch, R. D., Shimkets, L. J. (2007). Spatial Organization of Myxococcus xanthus during Fruiting Body Formation. J. Bacteriol. 189: 9126-9130 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Viswanathan, P., Murphy, K., Julien, B., Garza, A. G., Kroos, L. (2007). Regulation of dev, an Operon That Includes Genes Essential for Myxococcus xanthus Development and CRISPR-Associated Genes and Repeats. J. Bacteriol. 189: 3738-3750 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gronewold, T. M. A., Kaiser, D. (2007). Mutations of the Act Promoter in Myxococcus xanthus. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1836-1844 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sliusarenko, O., Zusman, D. R., Oster, G. (2007). Aggregation during Fruiting Body Formation in Myxococcus xanthus Is Driven by Reducing Cell Movement. J. Bacteriol. 189: 611-619 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sozinova, O., Jiang, Y., Kaiser, D., Alber, M. (2006). A three-dimensional model of myxobacterial fruiting-body formation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 17255-17259 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
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  • Sozinova, O., Jiang, Y., Kaiser, D., Alber, M. (2005). A three-dimensional model of myxobacterial aggregation by contact-mediated interactions. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102: 11308-11312 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Igoshin, O. A., Goldbeter, A., Kaiser, D., Oster, G. (2004). A biochemical oscillator explains several aspects of Myxococcus xanthus behavior during development. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 15760-15765 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Igoshin, O. A., Welch, R., Kaiser, D., Oster, G. (2004). Waves and aggregation patterns in myxobacteria. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 4256-4261 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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