DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0836639100. Extracellular polysaccharides mediate pilus retraction during social motility of <i>Myxococcus</i> <i>xanthus</i>

Extracellular polysaccharides mediate pilus retraction during social motility of Myxococcus xanthus

10.1073/pnas.0836639100

Crossref journal-article

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (341)

Abstract

Myxococcus xanthus is a Gram-negative bacterium with a complex life cycle that includes vegetative swarming and fruiting-body formation. Social (S)-motility (coordinated movement of large cell groups) requires both type IV pili and fibrils (extracellular matrix material consisting of polysaccharides and protein). Little is known about the role of this extracellular matrix, or fibril material, in pilus-dependent motility. In this study, mutants lacking fibril material and, therefore, S-motility were found to be hyperpiliated. We demonstrated that addition of fibril material resulted in pilus retraction and rescued this phenotype. The fibril material was further examined to determine the component(s) that were responsible for triggering pilus retraction. Protein-free fibril material was found to be highly active in correcting hyperpiliation. However, the amine sugars present in hydrolyzed fibril material, e.g., glucosamine and N -acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) had no effect on fibril − mutants, but, interestingly, cause hyperpiliation in wild-type cells. In contrast, chitin, a natural GlcNAc polymer, was found to restore pilus retraction in hyperpiliated mutants, indicating that a polysaccharide containing amine sugars is likely required for pilus retraction. These data suggest that the interaction of type IV pili with amine-containing polysaccharides on cell and slime-trail surfaces may trigger pilus retraction, resulting in S-motility and slime-trailing behaviors.

Bibliography

Li, Y., Sun, H., Ma, X., Lu, A., Lux, R., Zusman, D., & Shi, W. (2003). Extracellular polysaccharides mediate pilus retraction during social motility of Myxococcus xanthus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(9), 5443â5448.

Authors 7

Yinuo Li (first)
Hong Sun (additional)
Xiaoyuan Ma (additional)
Ann Lu (additional)
Renate Lux (additional)
David Zusman (additional)
Wenyuan Shi (additional)

References 38 Referenced 223

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Dates

Type	When
Created	22 years, 4 months ago (April 29, 2003, 12:23 p.m.)
Deposited	3 years, 4 months ago (April 12, 2022, 6:10 p.m.)
Indexed	1 month, 1 week ago (July 25, 2025, 6:47 a.m.)
Issued	22 years, 4 months ago (April 18, 2003)
Published	22 years, 4 months ago (April 18, 2003)
Published Online	22 years, 4 months ago (April 18, 2003)
Published Print	22 years, 4 months ago (April 29, 2003)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Li_2003, title={Extracellular polysaccharides mediate pilus retraction during social motility of Myxococcus xanthus}, volume={100}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0836639100}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.0836639100}, number={9}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Li, Yinuo and Sun, Hong and Ma, Xiaoyuan and Lu, Ann and Lux, Renate and Zusman, David and Shi, Wenyuan}, year={2003}, month=apr, pages={5443–5448} }

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