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. 2005 Sep 20;102(38):13416-20.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0506520102. Epub 2005 Sep 8.

Inorganic polyphosphate in the social life of Myxococcus xanthus: motility, development, and predation

Haiyu Zhang  1 , Narayan N Rao, Toshikazu Shiba, Arthur Kornberg
Affiliations

Inorganic polyphosphate in the social life of Myxococcus xanthus: motility, development, and predation

Haiyu Zhang et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Inorganic polyphosphate (poly P), a polymer of tens or hundreds of phosphate residues linked by high-energy, ATP-like bonds, is found in all organisms and performs a wide variety of functions. Myxococcus xanthus, a social bacterium that feeds on other bacteria and forms fruiting bodies and spores, depends on poly P for motility, development, and nutritional predation. Two poly P metabolizing enzymes were studied in M. xanthus: poly P kinase 1, which synthesizes poly P reversibly from ATP, and poly P:AMP phosphotransferase, which uses poly P as a donor to also reversibly convert AMP to ADP. The null mutant of ppk1 is defective in social motility, overproduces pilin protein on the cell surface, is delayed in fruiting body formation, produces fewer spores, is delayed in germination, and forms far smaller plaques on a lawn of Klebsiella aerogenes. The pap mutant is also impaired in social motility, but shows only slightly reduced abilities in development and predation.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Growth and poly P accumulation of WT and mutants. (A) Growth in CTT medium. (B) poly P levels in CTT medium. (C) poly P accumulation upon starvation. Mid-log cells in CTT medium were washed with TPM buffer and resuspended in an equal volume of TPM buffer.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
M. xanthus swarm sizes on soft agar.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Detection of cell-surface pilin protein. Pilin was sheared from 108 cells, separated by 15% SDS/PAGE, electroblotted, and probed with a polyclonal antibody against PilA. The apparent molecular mass of PilA is ≈25 kDa.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Development of Δppk1 and Δpap mutants. Cells were spotted on 1.5% TPM agar plates, incubated at 30°C, and monitored over a period of 5 days.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
Predation on K. aerogenes. Overnight K. aerogenes cultures were plated on nutrient agar. WT and mutants (2.5 × 104 cells) were then spotted on these plates and incubated at 30°C. (A) Plaques on K. aerogenes lawn after 10 days. (B) Sizes of plaques during an 11-day period.
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