The predatory life cycle of Myxococcus xanthus

Keane, Ryan; Berleman, James E.

doi:10.1099/mic.0.000208

Cited by 63 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 91 publications

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“…In the order of Myxococcales , most species are rod‐shaped soil bacteria that feature surface movements and fruiting body formation. Myxococcus xanthus , the best studied myxobacterium, is a model organism for studying surface motility, social behaviours, biofilm formation and interspecies interaction such as predation (Zusman et al ., ; Keane and Berleman, ). M. xanthus lacks flagella and is unable to swim in liquid culture.…”

Section: Myxobacterial Gliding Is Powered By Modified Flagella Statormentioning

confidence: 98%

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Novel mechanisms power bacterial gliding motility

Nan

Zusman

2016

Molecular Microbiology

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Summary For many bacteria, motility is essential for survival, growth, virulence, biofilm formation and intra/interspecies interactions. Since natural environments differ, bacteria have evolved remarkable motility systems to adapt, including swimming in aqueous media, and swarming, twitching and gliding on solid and semi-solid surfaces. Although tremendous advances have been achieved in understanding swimming and swarming motilities powered by flagella, and twitching motility powered by Type IV pili, little is known about gliding motility. Bacterial gliders are a heterogeneous group containing diverse bacteria that utilize surface motilities that do not depend on traditional flagella or pili, but are powered by mechanisms that are less well understood. Recently, advances in our understanding of the molecular machineries for several gliding bacteria revealed the roles of modified ion channels, secretion systems and unique machinery for surface movements. These novel mechanisms provide rich source materials for studying the function and evolution of complex microbial nano-machines. In this review, we summarize recent findings made on the gliding mechanisms of the myxobacteria, flavobacteria and mycoplasmas.

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Section: Myxobacterial Gliding Is Powered By Modified Flagella Statormentioning

confidence: 98%

“…best studied myxobacterium, is a model organism for studying surface motility, social behaviours, biofilm formation and interspecies interaction such as predation Keane and Berleman, 2016). M. xanthus lacks flagella and is unable to swim in liquid culture.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel mechanisms power bacterial gliding motility

Nan

Zusman

2016

Molecular Microbiology

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“…These include Myxobacteria, Lysobacter, Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BLO), Vampirococcus, and Dapterobacter, among others (Reichenbach, 1999). Especially the Myxobacteria, with their 'wolf pack hunting' strategy, are known micropredators since more than 70 years ago and have been isolated from soils world-wide (Keane & Berleman, 2016;Reichenbach, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The soil microbial food web revisited with metatranscriptomics - predatory Myxobacteria as keystone taxon?

Petters

Soellinger

Bengtsson

et al. 2018

Preprint

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1 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 Abstract Trophic interactions in the microbial food web of soils are crucial for nutrient and carbon cycling. Traditionally, protozoa are considered the major micropredators of bacteria in soil. However, some prokaryotes, such as Myxobacteria and Bdellovibrio are also famous for bacterivorous life style. Until recently, it was impossible to assess the abundance of pro-and eukaryotic micropredators in soils simultaneously. Using a metatranscriptomic three-domain profiling of small subunit ribosomal RNA we investigated the abundance of bacterivores in 28 datasets from eleven European mineral and organic soils of different climatic zones. In all soils, Myxobacteria comprised a significant proportion from 4 -19% of prokaryotic 16S rRNA transcripts and more than 60% of all bacterivores in most soils. Haliangiaceae and Polyangiaceae were most abundant, while the name-giving Myxococcaceae were barely present. Other bacterial predators like Bdellovibrio were low abundant. AlsoProtozoan micropredator 18S rRNA transcripts, e.g. from Cercozoa, Amoebozoa and Ciliophora, were on average less abundant, especially in mineral soils. Nematodes were even less abundant. In addition, we applied a longitudinal approach to identify bacterivores during beech litter colonisation. Here, Myxobacteria showed preydependent, protozoa-like community dynamics during colonisation. Thus, their broad prey range and high abundance suggests a major influence of Myxobacteria on structuring the prokaryotic community composition in soil, and might warrant their classification as keystone taxon. Our results suggest the presence of an ecologically important "bacterial loop" in soil food webs, independent of protozoa and nematodes.

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“…Due to its genetic tractability, the best-studied myxobacterium is Myxococcus xanthus, which is able to hunt prey cells using a group attack strategy that is typically described as a 'wolfpack' (Berleman and Kirby, 2009). During the predation, M. xanthus cells employ chemosensory systems and surface motility systems to search for the microbial prey, subsequently killing and consuming prey cells by delivering hydrolytic enzymes and active secondary metabolites mediated by outer membrane vesicles (Evans et al, 2012;Keane and Berleman, 2016;Lloyd and Whitworth, 2017;Livingstone et al, 2018). The large genome of M. xanthus harbours a high number of encoding genes that enable it to produce a wide range of secondary metabolites with many biological activities (Goldman et al, 2006;Weissman and Müller, 2010;Korp et al, 2016), among which myxovirescin A (TA, a.k.a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The large genome of M. xanthus harbours a high number of encoding genes that enable it to produce a wide range of secondary metabolites with many biological activities (Goldman et al, 2006;Weissman and Müller, 2010;Korp et al, 2016), among which myxovirescin A (TA, a.k.a. antibiotic TA), myxalamids, cittilin and myxoprincomide have been shown to be involved in the predatory killing of some prey (Berleman et al, 2014;Keane and Berleman, 2016). TA targets bacterial type II signal peptidase to inhibit pro-lipoprotein processing, resembling the mode of action of globomycin, and has been considered to be one of the most powerful weapons used by M. xanthus to prey upon both gram-positive and gramnegative cells (Dev et al, 1985;Xiao et al, 2011Xiao et al, , 2012.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacillus licheniformis escapes from Myxococcus xanthus predation by deactivating myxovirescin A through enzymatic glucosylation

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2019

Environmental Microbiology

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Summary Myxococcus xanthus kills susceptible bacteria using myxovirescin A (TA) during predation. However, whether prey cells in nature can escape M. xanthus by developing resistance to TA is unknown. We observed that many field‐isolated Bacillus licheniformis strains could survive encounters with M. xanthus, which was correlated to their TA resistance. A TA glycoside was identified in the broth of predation‐resistant B. licheniformis J32 co‐cultured with M. xanthus, and a glycosyltransferase gene (yjiC) was up‐regulated in J32 after the addition of TA. Hetero‐expressed YjiC‐modified TA to a TA glucoside (TA‐Gluc) by conjugating a glucose moiety to the C‐21 hydroxyl group, and the resulting compound was identical to the TA glycoside present in the co‐culture broth. TA‐Gluc exhibited diminished bactericidal activity due to its weaker binding with LspA, as suggested by in silico docking data. Heterologous expression of the yjiC gene conferred both TA and M. xanthus‐predation resistance to the host Escherichia coli cells. Furthermore, under predatory pressure, B. licheniformis Y071 rapidly developed predation resistance by acquiring TA resistance through the overexpression of yjiC and lspA genes. These results suggest that M. xanthus predation resistance in B. licheniformis is due to the TA deactivation by glucosylation, which is induced in a predator‐mediated manner.

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The predatory life cycle of Myxococcus xanthus

Cited by 63 publications

References 91 publications

Novel mechanisms power bacterial gliding motility

Novel mechanisms power bacterial gliding motility

The soil microbial food web revisited with metatranscriptomics - predatory Myxobacteria as keystone taxon?

Bacillus licheniformis escapes from Myxococcus xanthus predation by deactivating myxovirescin A through enzymatic glucosylation

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