Gliding Motility, Calcium, and Cohesion in Myxobacteria

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Calcium ion has three effects on myxobacteria. These are: (1) the induction of a system for gliding motility; (2) the induction of a system for energy-dependent cohesion; and (3) the stimulation of synthesis of three specific polypeptides. The long-range goal is to purify these polypeptides, raise monoclonal antibodies, and use these antibodies to test the hypothesis that the three polypeptides are functionally involved in motility and/or cohesion. The antibodies will be used to clone the genes for genetic approaches to the question, as direct reagents to try to inhibit motility or cohesion, and as probes to search for crossreactive polypeptides in other gliding bacteria. The present grant will support initiation of genetic analysis in Stigmatella, production of monoclonal antibodies, and use of the antibodies to affinity purify the proteins. Myxobacteria are differentiation-competent, communal procaryotes, whose life-cycle includes single-celled, aggregating (cohesive), and multicellular fruiting body stages. None of these phenomena are understood at the molecular or mechanistic level. The biological system, fascinating in its own right, may well prove to be a useful model system for studying differentiation and cell-cell interactions in higher organisms.