Cell Cycle Regulation in Myxoccocus xanthus During Vegetative Growth and Development: Regulatory Links between DNA Replication and Cell Division
Anke Treuner-Lange, Lotte Søgaard-Andersen and Mitchell Singer
from: Myxobacteria: Genomics, Cellular and Molecular Biology (Edited by: Zhaomin Yang and Penelope I. Higgs). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2014)
Abstract
In response to starvation M. xanthus cells initiate a developmental program that culminates in the formation of multicellular fruiting bodies inside which the rod-shaped cells differentiate into spherical myxospores. Whereas the rod-shaped vegetative cells contain 1 to 2 chromosomes, depending on the stage of the cell cycle, mature myxospores contain two chromosomes and peripheral rods, a differentiated cell type localized outside fruiting bodies, contain one chromosome. Moreover, during development, DNA replication occurs in the pre-aggregation stage and a new round of replication and termination of replication in the pre-aggregation stage are essential for fruiting body formation and myxospore differentiation. These observations suggest that the cell cycle is strictly regulated during fruiting body formation. Here, we describe the current understanding of the M. xanthus cell cycle with special emphasis on replication and chromosome organization as well as cell division. It is currently unknown how myxospores with two chromosomes and peripheral rods with one chromosome arise during development. Importantly, with the recent introduction of cell biology methods, the tools are now available to address how DNA replication, chromosome organization, cell division and cell fate determination are coupled during M. xanthus fruiting body formation read more ...
