Intercellular Signaling in Myxococcus xanthus

描述（由申请人提供）：细胞间信号传导对于复杂的微生物事件（如发育、发病机制和生物膜形成）至关重要。由于其复杂的生活史和协调的社会行为，黄色粘球菌是研究细胞间信号传导的理想模式菌。本研究以M. xanthus社会滑翔运动和趋化性，一个多细胞的功能，涉及营养群集和子实体的形成。以往的研究表明，M. xanthus涉及三种主要细胞成分的复杂相互作用：IV型皮利（TFP）、胞外多糖（EPS）和趋化性样Frz感觉系统（Frz）。本研究旨在了解M. xanthus social gliding motility/chemotaxis.在本申请中提出了三个具体目标。目的1分析PilA基因的遗传和生化特性，进一步了解TFP在S运动中的作用。目的二是研究EPS产生和分布的时空调控机制，以进一步了解EPS在S运动中的作用。目的3是探讨TFP和EPS与其相关生物事件之间的相互作用。这些拟议的研究的成功执行将提供TFP-EPS-Frz相关的社会滑翔运动和趋化性的分子理解。这些发现将揭示有关M. xanthus此外，这些研究还可能揭示基于鞭毛的游泳运动和依赖TFP的滑行运动之间可能存在的进化联系。由于TFP，EPS和化学传感蛋白也是生物膜形成和组织粘附和侵袭过程中各种病原菌的关键毒力因子，因此从这项研究中获得的知识也可以导致对抗微生物致病的新方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Intercellular signaling is essential for complex microbial events such as development, pathogenesis and biofilm formation. Myxococcus xanthus is an excellent model bacterium for studying intercellular signaling because of its complex life cycle and coordinated social behaviors. This study focuses on M. xanthus social gliding motility and chemotaxis, a multi-cellular function involved in vegetative swarming and fruiting body formation. Previous studies show that social gliding motility/chemotaxis of M. xanthus involves the complex interactions of three major cellular components: type IV pili (TFP), exopolysacchrides (EPS), and a chemotaxis-like Frz sensory system (Frz). This study aims to understand the genetic and biochemical basis of M. xanthus social gliding motility/chemotaxis. Three specific aims are proposed in this application. Aim 1 is to analyze the genetic and biochemical properties of PilA to further understand the role of TFP in S-motility. Aim 2 is to study the molecular mechanisms associated with temporal and spatial control of EPS production and distribution to further understand the role of EPS in S-motility. Aim 3 is to explore the interaction between TFP & EPS and its associated biological events. The successful execution of these proposed studies will provide a molecular understanding of the TFP-EPS-Frz-associated social gliding motility and chemotaxis. The findings will reveal insightful biological knowledge about intercellular signaling events during the complex development of M. xanthus. Furthermore, these studies could discover the possible evolutionary connections between flagella based swimming motility and TFP dependent gliding motility. Since TFP, EPS and chemosensory proteins are also the key virulent factors for a variety of pathogenic bacteria during biofilm formation and tissue adherence and invasion, the knowledge gained from this study could also lead to new ways to combat microbial pathogenesis.