| transposon insertions in the flavobacterium johnsoniae ftsx gene disrupt gliding motility and cell division. | flavobacterium johnsoniae is a gram-negative bacterium that exhibits gliding motility. to determine the mechanism of flavobacterial gliding motility, we isolated 33 nongliding mutants by tn4351 mutagenesis. seventeen of these mutants exhibited filamentous cell morphology. the region of dna surrounding the transposon insertion in the filamentous mutant cj101-207 was cloned and sequenced. the transposon was inserted in a gene that was similar to escherichia coli ftsx. two of the remaining 16 filam ... | 2000 | 10692373 |
| spatial control of cell differentiation in myxococcus xanthus. | myxococcus xanthus develops species-specific multicellular fruiting bodies. starting from a uniform mat of cells, some cells enter into nascent fruiting body aggregates, whereas other cells remain outside. the cells within the fruiting body differentiate from rods into spherical, heat-resistant spores, whereas the cells outside the aggregates, called peripheral cells, remain rod-shaped. early developmentally regulated genes are expressed in peripheral cells as well as by cells in the fruiting bo ... | 2000 | 10922065 |
| deciphering the hunting strategy of a bacterial wolfpack. | myxococcus xanthus is a common soil bacterium with an intricate multicellular lifestyle that continues to challenge the way in which we conceptualize the capabilities of prokaryotic organisms. myxococcus xanthus is the preferred laboratory representative from the myxobacteria, a family of organisms distinguished by their ability to form highly structured biofilms that include tentacle-like packs of surface-gliding cell groups, synchronized rippling waves of oscillating cells and massive spore-fi ... | 2009 | 19519767 |
| maxbin: an automated binning method to recover individual genomes from metagenomes using an expectation-maximization algorithm. | recovering individual genomes from metagenomic datasets allows access to uncultivated microbial populations that may have important roles in natural and engineered ecosystems. understanding the roles of these uncultivated populations has broad application in ecology, evolution, biotechnology and medicine. accurate binning of assembled metagenomic sequences is an essential step in recovering the genomes and understanding microbial functions. | 2014 | 25136443 |
| complete genome sequence and comparative genomics of a novel myxobacterium myxococcus hansupus. | myxobacteria, a group of gram-negative aerobes, belong to the class δ-proteobacteria and order myxococcales. unlike anaerobic δ-proteobacteria, they exhibit several unusual physiogenomic properties like gliding motility, desiccation-resistant myxospores and large genomes with high coding density. here we report a 9.5 mbp complete genome of myxococcus hansupus that encodes 7,753 proteins. phylogenomic and genome-genome distance based analysis suggest that myxococcus hansupus is a novel member of ... | 2016 | 26900859 |
| biotechnological applications of functional metagenomics in the food and pharmaceutical industries. | microorganisms are found throughout nature, thriving in a vast range of environmental conditions. the majority of them are unculturable or difficult to culture by traditional methods. metagenomics enables the study of all microorganisms, regardless of whether they can be cultured or not, through the analysis of genomic data obtained directly from an environmental sample, providing knowledge of the species present, and allowing the extraction of information regarding the functionality of microbia ... | 2015 | 26175729 |
| genome-wide analysis of myxobacterial two-component systems: genome relatedness and evolutionary changes. | two-component systems (tcss) are abundant prokaryotic signaling pathways, whose evolution is of particular importance because of their role in bacterial pathogenicity. comparative genomics can provide important insights into the evolution of these genes, but inferences are dependent on the relatedness of the compared genomes. this study investigated the relationship between evolutionary distance and tcs evolution in myxobacterial genomes, of which there are several sequenced examples, of varying ... | 2015 | 26463047 |
| complete genome of the starch-degrading myxobacteria sandaracinus amylolyticus dsm 53668t. | myxobacteria are members of δ-proteobacteria and are typified by large genomes, well-coordinated social behavior, gliding motility, and starvation-induced fruiting body formation. here, we report the 10.33 mb whole genome of a starch-degrading myxobacterium sandaracinus amylolyticus dsm 53668(t) that encodes 8,962 proteins, 56 trna, and two rrna operons. phylogenetic analysis, in silico dna-dna hybridization and average nucleotide identity reveal its divergence from other myxobacterial species a ... | 2016 | 27358428 |
| myxobacteria, polarity, and multicellular morphogenesis. | myxobacteria are renowned for the ability to sporulate within fruiting bodies whose shapes are species-specific. the capacity to build those multicellular structures arises from the ability of m. xanthus to organize high cell-density swarms, in which the cells tend to be aligned with each other while constantly in motion. the intrinsic polarity of rod-shaped cells lays the foundation, and each cell uses two polar engines for gliding on surfaces. it sprouts retractile type iv pili from the leadin ... | 2010 | 20610548 |
| bacterial chitinase with phytopathogen control capacity from suppressive soil revealed by functional metagenomics. | plant disease caused by fungal pathogens results in vast crop damage globally. microbial communities of soil that is suppressive to fungal crop disease provide a source for the identification of novel enzymes functioning as bioshields against plant pathogens. in this study, we targeted chitin-degrading enzymes of the uncultured bacterial community through a functional metagenomics approach, using a fosmid library of a suppressive soil metagenome. we identified a novel bacterial chitinase, chi18h ... | 2013 | 24121932 |
| bacterial chitinase with phytopathogen control capacity from suppressive soil revealed by functional metagenomics. | plant disease caused by fungal pathogens results in vast crop damage globally. microbial communities of soil that is suppressive to fungal crop disease provide a source for the identification of novel enzymes functioning as bioshields against plant pathogens. in this study, we targeted chitin-degrading enzymes of the uncultured bacterial community through a functional metagenomics approach, using a fosmid library of a suppressive soil metagenome. we identified a novel bacterial chitinase, chi18h ... | 2013 | 24121932 |
| the wolbachia wo bacteriophage proteome in the aedes albopictus c/wstr1 cell line: evidence for lytic activity? | wolbachia pipientis (rickettsiales), an obligate intracellular alphaproteobacterium in insects, manipulates host reproduction to maximize invasion of uninfected insect populations. modification of host population structure has potential applications for control of pest species, particularly if wolbachia can be maintained, manipulated, and genetically engineered in vitro. although wolbachia maintains an obligate mutualism with genome stability in nematodes, arthropods can be co-infected with dist ... | 2015 | 26427709 |
| the wolbachia wo bacteriophage proteome in the aedes albopictus c/wstr1 cell line: evidence for lytic activity? | wolbachia pipientis (rickettsiales), an obligate intracellular alphaproteobacterium in insects, manipulates host reproduction to maximize invasion of uninfected insect populations. modification of host population structure has potential applications for control of pest species, particularly if wolbachia can be maintained, manipulated, and genetically engineered in vitro. although wolbachia maintains an obligate mutualism with genome stability in nematodes, arthropods can be co-infected with dist ... | 2015 | 26427709 |
| pqqe from methylobacterium extorquens am1: a radical s-adenosyl-l-methionine enzyme with an unusual tolerance to oxygen. | methylobacterium extorquens am1 is an aerobic facultative methylotroph known to secrete pyrroloquinoline quinone (pqq), a cofactor of a number of bacterial dehydrogenases, into the culture medium. to elucidate the molecular mechanism of pqq biosynthesis, we are focusing on pqqe which is believed to be the enzyme catalysing the first reaction of the pathway. pqqe belongs to the radical s-adenosyl-l-methionine (sam) superfamily, in which most, if not all, enzymes are very sensitive to dissolved ox ... | 2015 | 26188050 |
| pqqe from methylobacterium extorquens am1: a radical s-adenosyl-l-methionine enzyme with an unusual tolerance to oxygen. | methylobacterium extorquens am1 is an aerobic facultative methylotroph known to secrete pyrroloquinoline quinone (pqq), a cofactor of a number of bacterial dehydrogenases, into the culture medium. to elucidate the molecular mechanism of pqq biosynthesis, we are focusing on pqqe which is believed to be the enzyme catalysing the first reaction of the pathway. pqqe belongs to the radical s-adenosyl-l-methionine (sam) superfamily, in which most, if not all, enzymes are very sensitive to dissolved ox ... | 2015 | 26188050 |
| diversity of natural product biosynthetic genes in the microbiome of the deep sea sponges inflatella pellicula, poecillastra compressa, and stelletta normani. | three different deep sea sponge species, inflatella pellicula, poecillastra compressa, and stelletta normani comprising seven individual samples, retrieved from depths of 760-2900 m below sea level, were investigated using 454 pyrosequencing for their secondary metabolomic potential targeting adenylation domain and ketosynthase domain sequences. the data obtained suggest a diverse microbial origin of nonribosomal peptide synthetases and polyketide synthase fragments that in part correlates with ... | 2016 | 27446062 |
| phi class of glutathione s-transferase gene superfamily widely exists in nonplant taxonomic groups. | glutathione s-transferases (gsts) constitute a superfamily of enzymes involved in detoxification of noxious compounds and protection against oxidative damage. gst class phi (gstf), one of the important classes of plant gsts, has long been considered as plant specific but was recently found in basidiomycete fungi. however, the range of nonplant taxonomic groups containing gstfs remains unknown. in this study, the distribution and phylogenetic relationships of nonplant gstfs were investigated. we ... | 2016 | 26884677 |
| novel lant associated lantibiotic clusters identified by genome database mining. | frequent use of antibiotics has led to the emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. lantibiotic compounds are ribosomally synthesized antimicrobial peptides against which bacteria are not able to produce resistance, hence making them a good alternative to antibiotics. nisin is the oldest and the most widely used lantibiotic, in food preservation, without having developed any significant resistance against it. having their antimicrobial potential and a limited number, there is a need to id ... | 2014 | 24621781 |
| functional identification of rubber oxygenase (roxa) in soil and marine myxobacteria. | the rubber oxygenase (roxa) of xanthomonas sp. strain 35y (roxa(xsp)) is so far the only known extracellular c-type diheme cytochrome that is able to cleave poly(cis-1,4-isoprene). all other rubber-degrading bacteria described are gram positive and employ a nonheme protein (latex-clearing protein [lcp]) for the postulated primary attack of polyisoprene. here, we identified roxa orthologs in the genomes of haliangium ochraceum, myxococcus fulvus, corallococcus coralloides, and chondromyces apicul ... | 2013 | 23934498 |
| devi is an evolutionarily young negative regulator of myxococcus xanthus development. | during starvation-induced development of myxococcus xanthus, thousands of rod-shaped cells form mounds in which they differentiate into spores. the dev locus includes eight genes followed by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (crisprs), comprising a crispr-cas system (cas stands for crispr associated) typically involved in rna interference. mutations in devs or devr of a lab reference strain permit mound formation but impair sporulation. we report that natural isolates of ... | 2015 | 25645563 |