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Genetic suppression and phenotypic masking of a Myxococcus xanthus frzF- defect
- Source :
- Molecular microbiology. 15(3)
- Publication Year :
- 1995
-
Abstract
- An insertion of transposon Tn5-lac, omega 4519, generates a lacZ fusion with a Myxococcus xanthus promoter expressed during both vegetative growth and development. Sequence analysis of the junction of omega 4519 with M. xanthus DNA shows that the insertion is in frzF, a homologue of cheR from Salmonella typhimurium. When frzF- (or frzCD-) cells are starved for nutrients at modest densities, they aggregate to form a radial pattern and produce fewer than 1% of the wild-type complement of spores. At higher densities, frzF::omega 4519 cells form 'frizzy' aggregates and produce 80-90% of the wild-type complement of spores. In contrast, when cells with both a frzF- (or frzCD-) and an sglA1 mutation are allowed to develop at either low or high cell densities, they produce frizzy aggregates containing a near wild-type complement of heat-resistant spores. In addition to suppressing the density dependence of fruiting-body morphogenesis, the sglA1 mutation also suppresses the sporulation defect caused by two different frzF- mutations and a frzCD- mutation. In contrast, a mutation in a different S motility gene, sglG1, does not suppress the frz- mutations. Thus, the suppression of frz- mutations by sgl- mutations is allele-specific, and depends on the sgl allele, but not the frz allele. Because the phenotypes of frz- mutations have been determined in a (suppressing) sglA1 genetic background, the frz genes may play more central roles in development than initially recognized.
- Subjects :
- Transposable element
Myxococcus xanthus
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutagenesis (molecular biology technique)
medicine.disease_cause
Microbiology
Suppression, Genetic
Bacterial Proteins
Cell Movement
Operon
medicine
Morphogenesis
Allele
Molecular Biology
Gene
Genetics
Spores, Bacterial
Mutation
biology
Base Sequence
Chemotaxis
Methyltransferases
biology.organism_classification
Phenotype
Cell biology
Mutagenesis, Insertional
Genes, Bacterial
DNA Transposable Elements
Myxococcaceae
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 0950382X
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Molecular microbiology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....cc161bb7927007d6e1bb00b32752dcc5