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Related Experiment Videos

Pattern formation by a cell surface-associated morphogen in Myxococcus xanthus.

Lars Jelsbak1, Lotte Søgaard-Andersen

  • 1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M, Denmark.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|February 14, 2002
PubMed
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Starving Myxococcus xanthus cells form fruiting bodies via C-signal-induced changes in cell movement. This cell-surface signal promotes aggregation by altering motility, increasing directional travel without long-range signals.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Cell Motility

Background:

  • Myxococcus xanthus cells aggregate into multicellular fruiting bodies during starvation.
  • This process involves a transition from swarming to aggregation, triggered by cell surface-associated C-signal.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how C-signal modulates Myxococcus xanthus cell behavior during aggregation.
  • To elucidate the role of C-signal in pattern formation and multicellular organization.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of C-signal's effect on individual cell motility parameters.
  • Development of a model for C-signal transmission and cell aggregation.

Main Results:

  • C-signal increases transient gliding speeds and gliding interval duration, while decreasing stop and reversal frequencies.

Related Experiment Videos

  • This motility modulation switches cell behavior from oscillatory to unidirectional, enhancing net cell travel distance.
  • C-signal transmission is a local, contact-dependent event, leading to global cell organization.

    • Conclusions:

    • C-signal-dependent regulation of reversal frequency is crucial for Myxococcus xanthus aggregation.
    • Changes in motility parameters contribute to aggregation by increasing directional cell movement.
    • Pattern formation relies on contact-induced motility changes, not diffusible signals.