The Mechanism of A-Motility
Jennifer Luciano, Beiyan Nan, David R. Zusman and Tâm Mignot
from: Myxobacteria: Genomics, Cellular and Molecular Biology (Edited by: Zhaomin Yang and Penelope I. Higgs). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2014)
Abstract
Myxococcus xanthus is able to move over solid surfaces as large coordinated groups (Social motility) or as single isolated cells (Adventurous motility). While S-motility was shown to rely on polar Type-IV pili in the early 2000s, the mechanism of A-motility has long remained mysterious because it occurs in absence of detectable extracellular organelles. In the past, many models have been proposed to explain A-motility. In recent years, with the advent of high-resolution fluorescence microscopy and phylogenomics, it has been possible to identify the A-motility machinery and propose a motility mechanism. In this chapter, we discuss the state-of-the-art in A-motility research and future directions to decipher this long mystery of modern bacteriology read more ...
