Dresden 2014 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 20: Cell adhesion, mechanics and migration I
BP 20.4: Talk
Tuesday, April 1, 2014, 14:00–14:15, HÜL 386
Directional Motors Move on Cell Surface and Give Rise to Gliding Motility and Sporulation in M. xanthus — •Fabian Czerwinski1, Morgane Wartel2, Adrien Ducret2,3, Shashi Thutupalli1, Anne-Valerie Le Gall2, Emilia Mauriello2, Ptissam Bergam2, Yves Brun3, Joshua Shaevitz1, and Tam Mignot2 — 1Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University — 2Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, CNRS Marseille — 3Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington
Eukaryotic cells utilize an arsenal of processive transport systems to deliver macromolecules to specific subcellular sites. In prokaryotes, such transport mechanisms have only been shown to mediate gliding motility, a form of microbial surface translocation. Here, we show that the motility function of the Myxococcus xanthus Agl-Glt machinery results from the specialization of a versatile class of bacterial transporters.
Specifically, we used fluorescence microscopy and optical traps to demonstrate that the Agl motility motor is modular and dissociates from the rest of the gliding machinery (the Glt complex) to bind the newly expressed Nfs complex, a close Glt paralogue, during sporulation. Following this association, the Agl system transports Nfs proteins directionally around the spore surface. Since the main spore coat polymer is secreted at discrete sites around the spore surface, its transport by Agl-Nfs ensures its distribution around the spore. Thus, the Agl-Glt/Nfs machineries may constitute a novel class of directional bacterial surface transporters that can be diversified to specific tasks depending on the cognate cargo and machinery-specific accessories.