Gliding motility of prokaryotes: ultrastructure, physiology, and genetics

Further characterization and in situ localization of chain-like aggregates of the gliding bacteria Myxococcus fulvus and Myxococcus xanthus

For the first time, chain-like aggregates, called "strands," have been enriched from crude cell wall preparations of liquid-grown vegetative cells of two strains of Myxococcus xanthus. These strands are highly isomorphic to macromolecular structures, previously described for Myxococcus fulvus (Lünsdorf and Reichenbach, J. Gen. Microbiol. 135:1633-1641, 1989). The strands are morphologically composed of ring elements, consisting of six or more peripheral protein masses and possibly three small central masses. The ring elements are linked by two parallel strings of filamentous proteins, called elongated elements, which keep the ring elements at a constant distance. The overall dimensions of the ring elements are 16.6 +/- 1.0 nm (n = 55) for M. xanthus Mx x48 and 16.4 +/- 1.5 nm (n = 37) for M. xanthus DK 1622. The distance between the ring elements, as a measure of the length of the elongated elements, is 16.6 +/- 1.1 nm (n = 59) for strain Mx x48 and 15.5 +/- 0.6 nm (n = 41) for strain DK 1622. Characteristically, the strands and oligomeric forms thereof show a strict association with the outer membrane. In situ studies of freeze-fractured cells of M. fulvus showed ring elements, isomorphic to those described for M. xanthus, within the periplasm; they appeared in parallel rows just below the outer membrane but not in direct contact with the cytoplasmic membrane. A three-dimensional model summarizes the morphological data. It is hypothesized that the chain-like strands, as building blocks of a more complex belt-like continuum, represent the peripheral part of the gliding machinery, which transforms membrane potential energy into mechanical work.

Envelope structure of four gliding filamentous cyanobacteria

The cell walls of four gliding filamentous Oscillatoriaceae species comprising three different genera were studied by freeze substitution, freeze fracturing, and negative staining. In all species, the multilayered gram-negative cell wall is covered with a complex external double layer. The first layer is a tetragonal crystalline S-layer anchored on the outer membrane. The second array is formed by parallel, helically arranged surface fibrils with diameters of 8 to 12 nm. These fibrils have a serrated appearance in cross sections. In all cases, the orientation of the surface fibrils correlates with the sense of revolution of the filaments during gliding, i.e., clockwise in both Phormidium strains and counterclockwise in Oscillatoria princeps and Lyngbya aeruginosa. The lack of longitudinal corrugations or contractions of the surface fibrils and the identical appearances of motile and nonmotile filaments suggest that this structure plays a passive screw thread role in gliding. It is hypothesized that the necessary propulsive force is generated by shear forces between the surface fibrils and the continuing flow of secreted extracellular slime. Furthermore, the so-called junctional pores seem to be the extrusion sites of the slime. In motile cells, these pores exhibit a different staining behavior than that seen in nonmotile ones. In the former, the channels of the pores are filled with electron-dense material, whereas in the latter, the channels appear comparatively empty, highly contrasting the peptidoglycan. Finally, the presence of regular surface structures in other gliding prokaryotes is considered an indication that comparable structures are general features of the cell walls of gliding microbes.

Intercellular C-signaling and the traveling waves of Myxococcus

Early in their development into fruiting bodies, Myxococcus xanthus cells organize themselves into dense bands that move as trains of traveling waves. C-factor, a 20-kD cell-surface bound protein, is a short-range developmental signal molecule required for these waves. What is the role of C-factor in the wave pattern? It is proposed that oriented collisions between cells initiate C-signaling, which, in turn, causes individual cells to reverse their direction of gliding. Cells would move about one wavelength and then reverse. Several lines of experimental evidence support these proposals: (1) Cells that suffered a mutation in the signal transduction pathway that controls the spontaneous reversal frequency lost the ability to form waves; (2) presentation of developing cells with detergent-solubilized C-factor increased the mean frequency of single cell reversal by three-fold; and (3) fluorescently labeled cells in the waves were tracked, and it was found that they moved and reversed on linear paths along the axis of wave propagation. Similar numbers of cells were found moving in the direction of ripple propagation, and in the reverse direction, as expected. (4) Dilution of C-signaling-competent cells with C-factor-deficient cells increased the wavelength as the probability of productive collision decreased. The waves exemplify a way that a multicellular pattern of stripes can be produced de novo, one that maintains a uniform 50-microns separation between stripes over a distance as large as 1 cm.

Methylation of FrzCD, a methyl-accepting taxis protein of Myxococcus xanthus, is correlated with factors affecting cell behavior

Myxococcus xanthus, a nonflagellated gliding bacterium, exhibits multicellular behavior during vegetative growth and fruiting body formation. The frizzy (frz) genes are required to control directed motility for these interactions. The frz genes encode proteins that are homologous to all of the major enteric chemotaxis proteins, with the exception of CheZ. In this study, we characterized FrzCD, a protein which is homologous to the methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins from the enteric bacteria. FrzCD, unlike the other methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins, was found to be localized primarily in the cytoplasmic fraction of cells. FrzCD migrates as a ladder of bands on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, reflecting heterogeneity due to methylation or demethylation and to deamidation. FrzCD was shown to be methylated in vivo when cells were exposed to yeast extract or Casitone and demethylated when starved in buffer. We used the methylation state of FrzCD as revealed by Western blot (immunoblot) analyses to search for stimuli that are recognized by the frz signal transduction system. Common amino acids, nucleotides, vitamins, and sugars were not recognized, but certain lipids and alcohols were recognized. For example, the saturated fatty acids capric acid and lauric acid stimulated FrzCD methylation, whereas a variety of other saturated fatty acids did not. Lauryl alcohol and lipoic acid also stimulated methylation, as did phospholipids containing lauric acid. In contrast, several short-chain alcohols, such as isoamyl alcohol, and some other solvents caused demethylation. The relatively high concentrations of the chemicals required for a response may indicate that these chemicals are not the relevant signals recognized by M. xanthus in nature. Isoamyl alcohol and isopropanol also had profound effects on the behavior of wild-type cells, causing them to reverse continuously. Cells of frzB, frzF, and frzG mutants also reversed continuously in the presence of isoamyl alcohol, whereas cells of frzA, frzCD, or frzE mutants did not. On the basis of the data presented, we propose a model for the frz signal transduction pathway in M. xanthus.

Defects in gliding motility in mutants of Cytophaga johnsonae lacking a high-molecular-weight cell surface polysaccharide

We previously observed (W. Godchaux, L. Gorski, and E.R. Leadbetter, J. Bacteriol. 172:1250-1255, 1990) that two mutants (strains 21 and NS-1) of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga johnsonae that were totally deficient in motility-dependent colony spreading, movement of rafts (groups) of cells as observed with a microscope, and movement of polystyrene-latex spheres that attached to the cell surface (observed in wet mounts) were also deficient in a high-molecular-weight cell surface polysaccharide (HMPS) and suggested a role for that substance in gliding motility. Antisera have been prepared against the purified HMPS, and these were used to select mutants specifically and highly deficient in the polysaccharide. All five such mutants had rates of colony spreading and raft movement that were much lower than those of the parent strain, but the rate of increase in colony diameter was higher than that found for strains NS-1 and 21 (which do not undergo raft movement at all). Unlike these latter two strains, the HMPS mutants retained the ability to move polystyrene-latex spheres over their surfaces. Hence, HMPS deficiency results in defective motility but not nonmotility, and the HMPS deficiency cannot fully explain the phenotype of mutants 21 and NS-1; in these strains, gliding must be affected by additional biochemical lesions. The HMPS may, nonetheless, be advantageous in that it supports greater gliding speeds.

Hydrophobicity, Adhesion, and Surface-Exposed Proteins of Gliding Bacteria

The cell surface hydrophobicities of a variety of aquatic and terrestrial gliding bacteria were measured by an assay of bacterial adherence to hydrocarbons (BATH), hydrophobic interaction chromatography, and the salt aggregation test. The bacteria demonstrated a broad range of hydrophobicities. Results among the three hydrophobicity assays performed on very hydrophilic strains were quite consistent. Bacterial adhesion to glass did not correlate with any particular measure of surface hydrophobicity. Several adhesion-defective mutants of Cytophaga sp. strain U67 were found to be more hydrophilic than the wild type, particularly by the BATH assay and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The very limited adhesion of these mutants correlated well with hydrophilicity as determined by the BATH assay. The hydrophobicities of several adhesion-competent revertants ranged between those of the wild type and the mutants. As measured by the BATH assay, starvation increased hydrophobicity of both the wild type and an adhesion-defective mutant. During filament fragmentation of Flexibacter sp. strain FS-1, marked changes in hydrophobicity and adhesion were accompanied by changes in the arrays of surface-exposed proteins as detected by an immobilized radioiodination procedure.

Malaria sporozoites release circumsporozoite protein from their apical end and translocate it along their surface

Plasmodium sporozoites, the causative agents of malaria, release circumsporozoite (CS) protein into medium when under conditions simulating those that the parasites encounter in the bloodstream of the vertebrate host. CS protein of the rodent parasite, Plasmodium berghei, is released as the lower molecular weight form, Pb44. This release is substratum- and antibody-independent. Previous studies show that CS protein is released at the trailing, posterior end of motile sporozoites. Video and electron microscopic studies now demonstrate that CS protein is released at the apical end of cytochalasin b-immobilized sporozoites. We propose that CS protein released from the apical end, the leading end of gliding sporozoites, adheres to the sporozoite surface and is translocated posteriorly by a cytochalasin-sensitive and apparently actin-mediated surface motor, which drives gliding motility. This model explains the mechanism of both the circumsporozoite precipitation (CSP) reaction and formation of the CS protein trail by gliding sporozoites.

The bacterial flagellum and flagellar motor: structure, assembly and function

The bacterial flagellum is a complex multicomponent structure which serves as the propulsive organelle for many species of bacteria. Rotation of the helical flagellar filament, driven by a proton-powered motor embedded in the cell wall, enables the flagellum to function as a screw propeller. It seems likely that almost all of the genes required for flagellar formation and function have been identified. Continuing analysis of the portions of the genome containing these genes may reveal the existence of a few more. Transcription of the flagellar genes is under the control of the products of a single operon, and so these genes constitute a regulon. Other controls, both transcriptional and post-transcriptional, have been identified. Many of these genes have been sequenced, and the information obtained will aid in the design of experiments to clarify the various regulatory mechanisms of the flagellar regulon. The flagellum is composed of several substructures. The long helical filament is connected via the flexible hook to the complex basal body which is located in the cell wall. The filament is composed of many copies of a single protein, and can adopt a number of distinct helical forms. Structural analyses of the filament are adding to our understanding of this dynamic polymer. The component proteins of the hook and filament have all been identified. Continuing studies on the structure of the basal body have revealed the presence of several hitherto unknown basal-body proteins, whose identities and functions have yet to be elucidated. The proteins essential for energizing the motor, the Mot and switch proteins, are thought to exist as multisubunit complexes peripheral to the basal body. These complexes have yet to be identified biochemically or morphologically. Not surprisingly, flagellar assembly is a complex process, occurring in several stages. Assembly occurs in a proximal-to-distal fashion; the basal body is assembled before the hook, and the hook before the filament. This pattern is also maintained within the filament, with monomers added at the distal end of the polymer; the same is presumably true of the other axial components. An exception to this general pattern is assembly of the Mot proteins into the motor, which appears to be possible at any time during flagellar assembly. With the identification of the genes encoding many of the flagellar proteins, the roles of these proteins in assembly is understood, but the function of a number of gene products in flagellar formation remains unknown.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Transposon tagging of genes for cell-cell interactions in Myxococcus xanthus

The prokaryote Myxococcus xanthus is a model for cell interactions important in multicellular behavior. We used the transposon TnphoA to specifically identify genes for cell-surface factors involved in cell interactions. From a library of 10,700 insertions of TnphoA, we isolated 36 that produced alkaline phosphatase activity. Three TnphoA insertions tagged cell motility genes, called cgl, which control the adventurous movement of cells. The products of the tagged cgl genes could function in trans upon other cells and were localized primarily in the cell envelope and extracellular space, consistent with TnphoA tagging genes for extracellular factors controlling motility.

Defects in contact-stimulated gliding during aggregation by Myxococcus xanthus

During development, Myxococcus xanthus cells glide toward foci of aggregation and produce compact multicellular mounds. We studied development in strains with defects in contact-stimulated gliding. Contact stimulation involves a mechanism influenced by contacts between neighboring cells which stimulates the gliding motility of single cells (Hodgkin and Kaiser, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74:2938-2942, 1977; Hodgkin and Kaiser, Mol. Gen. Genet. 171:167-176, 1979). Most mutants containing a mutation in a single gene affecting contact stimulation (cgl gene) were able to form foci of aggregation during development. However, the aggregates were diffuse, suggesting that contact stimulation is important for morphogenetic movements during aggregation. A mutant containing a mutation in the cglF3 gene showed a striking delay in aggregation, suggesting that the cglF3 gene affects a mechanism stimulating cells moving to foci or affects a mechanism for coordinating early cell behavior. Mutants containing the cglF3 mutation in combination with a cglB, cglC, cglE, or cglF1 mutation had severe defects in aggregation and failed to recover from the early delay. The severity of the defects in mutants containing two cgl mutations suggests that cgl genes are critical for development. We propose that cgl genes stimulate cell movement or control specific contacts between cells during aggregation.

Adhesion and motility of gliding bacteria on substrata with different surface free energies

The adhesion and motility of several aquatic and terrestrial gliding bacteria on slides differing in their critical surface energies have been examined. In general, adhesion was tenacious on low-critical surface energy (hydrophobic) surfaces and tenuous on hydrophilic surfaces. Gliding was inhibited on very hydrophobic substrata and skittish on very hydrophilic surfaces.

Surface proteins of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga sp. strain U67 and its mutants defective in adhesion and motility

Surface proteins of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga sp. strain U67 that make contact with glass substrata were radioiodinated, using a substratum-immobilized catalyst (Iodo-Gen). At least 15 polypeptides were iodinated, fewer than the number labeled by surface biotinylation of whole cells; these polypeptides define the set of possible candidates for the surface protein(s) that mediates gliding-associated substratum adhesion. The labeling of three adhesion-defective mutants exhibited two characteristic patterns of surface iodination which involved addition, loss, or alteration of several polypeptides of high molecular weight. An adhesion-competent revertant of mutant Adh3 and one of Adh2 exhibited the wild-type labeling pattern. Two other Adh2 revertants resembled their adhesion-defective parent. The labeling pattern of surface polypeptides of a nongliding but adhesive cell strain was similar to that of the wild type.

Effect of temperature shifts on gliding motility, adhesion, and fatty acid composition of Cytophaga sp. strain U67

Gliding motility and flipping of 25 degrees C-adapted Cytophaga sp. strain U67 were inhibited when the bacteria were shifted to a less than or equal to 12 degrees C environment; motility was not blocked by a shift to 13 degrees C. Bacteria adapted to 4 degrees C were motile over the entire 4 to 25 degrees C temperature range tested. U67 adhesion to the substratum appeared to be unaffected by temperature shifts. Bacteria adapted to 4 degrees C had higher proportions of unsaturated and branched-chain fatty acids than did those grown at 25 degrees C. When 25 degrees C-adapted bacteria were subjected to a gradual temperature decline, the time of reappearance of gliding competence at 4 to 5 degrees C was correlated with these changes in fatty acid composition.

Outer membrane polysaccharide deficiency in two nongliding mutants of Cytophaga johnsonae

Phenol-extractable polysaccharides firmly associated with the outer membrane of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga johnsonae could be resolved by gel filtration in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis into a high-molecular-weight (H) fraction (excluded by Sephadex G-200) and a low-molecular-weight (L) fraction. Fraction L was rich in components typical of lipid A and the core region of lipopolysaccharide (P, 3-hydroxy fatty acids, and 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate) and evidently was a lipopolysaccharide with a limited number of distal, repeating polysaccharide units, as judged by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In relation to total carbohydrate, the H fraction was rich in amino sugar but poor in (possibly devoid of) the lipid A and core components. Two nongliding mutants were highly deficient in the H fraction; one of these was deficient in sulfonolipid but could be cured by provision of a specific sulfonolipid precursor, a process that also resulted in the return of both the H fraction and gliding, as well as the ability to move polystyrene latex spheres over the cell surface. Hence, the polysaccharide may be the component that is directly involved in motility, and the presence of sulfonolipids in the outer membrane is necessary for the synthesis or accumulation of the polysaccharide. This conclusion was reinforced by the fact that the second nongliding, polysaccharide-deficient mutant had a normal sulfonolipid content.

Calcium requirement for gliding motility in myxobacteria

The ability to glide on a solid surface was inducible by calcium ion in Stigmatella aurantiaca. The induction of motility but not motility itself was prevented by chloramphenicol and erythromycin. Calcium ion was also required for cells to glide, even when they were previously induced. The ability of Myxococcus xanthus to glide in groups using the S motility system but not as single cells (A system) was prevented by chloramphenicol and erythromycin.

Interference reflection microscopic study of sites of association between gliding bacteria and glass substrata

Sites of close contact between gliding Cytophaga sp. strain U67 cells and glass were examined by interference reflection microscopy. Site patterns changed during translocation and moved relative to the substratum, in contrast to previous interference reflection microscopy observations of fibroblast and amoeboid motility. Sinistral rotation around the long axis of the cell was coupled with gliding, except when curved cells traversed curvilinear pathways. Close contact was temporary, since cells flipped up off the substratum on one pole, pivoted, or were displaced laterally in collisions. Other members of the order Cytophagales and Myxococcus sp. demonstrated similar patterns of close association with substrata.

Defects in motility and development of Myxococcus xanthus lipopolysaccharide mutants

Five transposon Tn5 mutants of the procaryote Myxococcus xanthus had been shown previously to be defective in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis (J. M. Fink,-M. Kalos, and J. F. Zissler, J. Bacteriol. 171:2033-2041, 1989). These mutants were studied for possible defects in gliding motility and multicellular development. Wild-type M. xanthus cells glide both as single cells and as groups of cells. We found that the Tn5 lipopolysaccharide O-antigen mutants were defective in single-cell motility but were unaltered in group motility. These mutant strains were slow to develop but eventually gave rise to normal, spore-filled fruiting bodies. We also had shown previously that 56 (ethyl methanesulfonate-induced and spontaneous) phage-resistant mutants were defective in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. We found that many of these lipopolysaccharide O-antigen mutants were defective in single-cell motility but were unaltered in group motility. These mutants also gave rise to normal, spore-filled fruiting bodies. We also studied several phage-resistant mutants which were lacking a side-chain carbohydrate on the lipopolysaccharide core. These mutants possessed both single-cell motility and group motility but were altered in the magnitude of gliding. These mutants were blocked early in development and could not form multicellular fruiting bodies. Several of the mutations in the developmentally aberrant strains were mapped to a single locus by using a collection of genetically linked transposons as genetic markers.

Use of a novel Chlamydomonas mutant to demonstrate that flagellar glycoprotein movements are necessary for the expression of gliding motility

As an alternative to swimming through liquid medium by the coordinated bending activity of its two flagella, Chlamydomonas can exhibit whole cell gliding motility through the interaction of its flagellar surfaces with a solid substrate. The force transduction occurring at the flagellar surface can be visualized as the saltatory movements of polystyrene microspheres. Collectively, gliding motility and polystyrene microsphere movements are referred to as flagellar surface motility. The principal concanavalin A binding, surface-exposed glycoproteins of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagellar surface are a pair of glycoproteins migrating with apparent molecular weight of 350 kDa. It has been hypothesized that these glycoproteins move within the plane of the flagellar membrane during the expression of flagellar surface motility. A novel mutant cell line of Chlamydomonas (designated L-23) that exhibits increased binding of concanavalin A to the flagellar surface has been utilized in order to restrict the mobility of the concanavalin A-binding flagellar glycoproteins. Under all conditions where the lateral mobility of the flagellar concanavalin A binding glycoproteins is restricted, the cells are unable to express whole cell gliding motility or polystyrene microsphere movements. Conversely, whenever cells can redistribute their concanavalin A binding glycoproteins in the plane of the flagellar membrane, they express flagellar surface motility. Since the 350 kDa glycoproteins are the major surface-exposed flagellar proteins, it is likely that most of the signal being followed using fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-concanavalin A is attributable to these high molecular weight glycoproteins.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effect of pH, temperature, and growth conditions on the adhesion of a gliding bacterium and three nongliding bacteria to polystyrene

The effect of growth rate, growth phase, pH, and temperature on the permanent adhesion of a glidingFlexibacter sp. and three nongliding bacteria,Pseudomonas fluorescens, Enterobacter cloacae, andChromobacterium sp., to polystyrene substrata was investigated. The permanent adhesion of the flexibacter appeared to be related to growth, as levels of adhesion increased with increased growth rate in continuous culture and declined rapidly with death phase in batch culture. With the three nongliding bacteria, there was no relationship between growth rate and levels of permanent adhesion. The permanent adhesion of the nongliding bacteria was maximum between pH 5.5 and pH 7 and between 20 and 30°C, whereas the adhesion of the flexibacter progressively decreased with increasing temperature and pH. The effect of different nutrient conditions on the gliding motility of the flexibacter across agar was also investigated. Gliding motility was inhibited by increased nutrient concentration and was affected by carbon source. Inhibition appeared to be related to the accumulation of a viscous exopolymer. It is proposed that the differences in the permanent adhesion of the gliding and nongliding bacteria may be related to their adaptation to different ecological niches.

Malaria sporozoites leave behind trails of circumsporozoite protein during gliding motility

As Plasmodium sporozoites undergo gliding motility in vitro, they leave behind trails of circumsporozoite (CS) protein that correspond to their patterns of movement. This light microscopic observation was made using Plasmodium berghei sporozoites, a monoclonal antibody (MAb H4) directed against the immunodominant repetitive epitope of the CS protein of P. berghei, and an immunogold-silver staining (IGSS) technique. Sporozoites pretreated with agents that inhibit sporozoite motility and invasiveness did not produce trails. Sporozoites that glided on microscope slides coated with MAb H4 left behind considerably longer CS protein trails than those on uncoated slides, and the staining of these trails was more intense. The fact that the CS protein is an exoantigen continuously released as trails by motile sporozoites, together with our previous finding that anti-CS protein antibodies inhibit sporozoite motility, strongly suggests that the CS protein plays a role in gliding motility. The sensitive IGSS technique used in this study may be a useful tool in the study of the translocation of surface proteins during gliding of other apicomplexans, other protists, and bacteria.

Characterization of gliding motility in Flexibacter polymorphus

Motility of the marine gliding bacterium Flexibacter polymorphus was studied by using microcinematographic techniques. Following adhesion to a glass surface, multicellular filaments and individual cells usually began to glide within a few seconds at a speed of approximately 12 micron per second (at 23 degrees C). Adhesion to the glass surface was evidently mediated by multitudes of extremely fine extracellular fibrils. Gliding velocity was independent of filament length but directly related to electron-transport activity and substratum temperature in the range 3-35 degrees C. The rate of gliding was inversely related to medium viscosity, suggesting that the locomotor apparatus functions at constant torque. Forward motion was occasionally interrupted by direction reversals, somersaults (observed primarily in single cells of short filaments), or spinning of filaments tethered by one pole. The frequency of direction reversal was found to be an inverse function of filament length. Translational motility was invariably accompanied by sinistral revolution about the longitudinal axis of a filament. The sense and pitch of revolution were constant among filaments of different length. Polystyrene microspheres or India ink particles adsorbed to gliding cells were actively displaced in either direction, their movement tracing either a regular zigzag or helical path along the filament surface. Because microspheres were also observed to move on nonmotile filaments, particle translocation was evidently not obligatorily linked to gliding locomotion. Multiple particles adsorbed to a single filament often moved independently. The data are consistent with a motility mechanism involving limited motion in numerous mechanically independent (yet functionally coordinated) domains on the cell surface.

Three-dimensional structure of the frozen-hydrated flagellar filament. The left-handed filament of Salmonella typhimurium

Electron micrographs of frozen-hydrated preparations of flagellar filaments of Salmonella typhimurium were used to obtain a three-dimensional reconstruction of the structure. The filaments were obtained from the mutant SJW1660, which produces straight, left-handed filaments. The subunits in this filament are thought to be all in the L-state. The structure consists of a set of 11 longitudinal segmented rods of density that lie at a radius of 70 A. The outermost feature of the filament is a set of knobs of density that project outward from the rods. The interior of the filaments consists of arms that extend inward radially from the segmented rods. The 11 segmented rods and their interconnections are noteworthy because current theories regarding filament structure involve switching of subunits between the L and R states co-operatively along the directions of the rods.

Characterization of the motile hormogonia of Mastigocladus laminosus

The cyanobacterium Mastigocladus laminosus produces motile hormogonia which move by gliding motility. These hormogonia were characterized in terms of their morphology, state of differentiation of the cells, optimal temperature for production and motility, minimal nutritional requirements to sustain motility, liberation of the hormogonium from its parental trichome, average surface velocity, and maximal concentration of agar through which the hormogonium may move. We found that an average hormogonium consisted of 13.6 cells of only the narrow-cell-type morphology. Gliding motility and the production of hormogonia were maximal at 45 degrees C. Agarose plus 0.20 mM Ca2+ was sufficient to sustain gliding motility. Hormogonia were liberated from the parental trichome by formation and lysis of a necridium. The average surface velocity of a hormogonium was 1.7 micron/s with a maximal velocity of 3 micron/s. Hormogonia were motile through 7% agar. Motile hormogonia leave a record of their passage in the form of easily visible tracks on the surface of solid media. Three types of tracks were observed: straight, sinusoidal, and circular. Normal, forward-directed motion involves screwlike rotation that describes a right-handed helix. However, observations are presented which suggest that rotational motion is not a prerequisite for gliding motility in this cyanobacterium.

"Frizzy" genes of Myxococcus xanthus are involved in control of frequency of reversal of gliding motility

Myxococcus xanthus, a Gram-negative bacterium, has a complex life cycle that includes fruiting body formation. Frizzy (frz) mutants are unable to aggregate normally, instead forming frizzy filamentous aggregates. We have found that these mutants are defective in the control of cell reversal during gliding motility. Wild-type cells reverse their direction of gliding about every 6.8 min; net movement occurs since the interval between reversals can vary widely. The frzA-C, -E and -F mutants reverse their direction of movement very rarely, about once every 2 hr. These mutants cannot aggregate normally and give rise to frizzy filamentous colonies on fruiting agar or motility agar. In contrast, frzD mutants reverse their direction of movement very frequently, about once every 2.2 min; individual cells show little net movement and form smooth-edged "nonmotile" type colonies. Genetic analysis of the frzD locus shows that mutations in this locus can be dominant to the wild-type allele and that its gene product(s) must interact with the other frz gene products. Our results suggest that the frz genes are part of a system responsible for directed movement of this organism.

Induction of chloramphenicol and tetracycline resistance in Flexibacter sp. strain FS-1

The gliding bacterium Flexibacter sp. strain FS-1 exhibits inducible resistance to chloramphenicol (Cmr) and tetracycline (Tcr). Either chloramphenicol or tetracycline alone induced a Cmr Tcr phenotype. The resistance is apparently not plasmid encoded.

Isolation and characterization of nonspreading mutants of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga johnsonae

Three approaches were taken to isolate a total of 153 nonspreading mutants derived from our laboratory strain of Cytophaga johnsonae, UW101, or from its auxotrophic derivative, UW10538. Characterization of 109 of these mutants led to their placement in five general categories: (i) motile, nonspreading (MNS) mutants whose cells are motile to various degrees but whose colonies fail to spread on agar gels under any conditions of incubation; (ii) conditional nonspreading (CNS) mutants with motile cells whose colonies require more moisture to spread on agar gels than do those of wild-type cells; (iii) filamentous conditional motility (FCM) mutants whose cells grow as nonmotile filaments or as motile cells with wild-type morphology, depending on conditions of incubation; (iv) short, tumbling, nonspreading (STN) mutants with short cells that tumble constantly; and (v) truly nonmotile (TNM) mutants whose cells never move and whose colonies never spread under any conditions tested. All TNM mutants exhibited a remarkable pleiotropy not seen in the other four classes of mutants: all were resistant to 39 phages to which wild-type cells are sensitive, and all were unable to digest chitin, which is digested by wild-type cells. The correlation between ability to move and phage sensitivity was strengthened further by showing that 150 additional TNM mutants derived from UW101 and 43 TNM mutants derived from 29 independent isolates of C. johnsonae were resistant to all phages to which their parents were sensitive. Furthermore, motile revertants of TNM mutants became phage sensitive, and temperature-sensitive mutants were motile and phage sensitive at 25 degrees C and nonmotile and phage resistant at 32 degrees C. Evidence supports the conclusion that any mutation rendering cells truly nonmotile invariably alters cell surface-associated properties such as phage sensitivity and chitin digestion merely as a consequence of changing a moving cell surface to a static surface.

Experimental observations consistent with a surface tension model of gliding motility of Myxococcus xanthus

We have presented experimental evidence to support the model that gliding motility of Myxococcus xanthus is driven by surface tension. (i) Motility is inhibited by the addition of sufficient exogenous, nontoxic surfactants to swamp out the cells' own surfactant gradient. (ii) M. xanthus does not move polystyrene latex beads over its surface. (iii) Motility is prevented by elimination of an interfacial surface tension either by embedding the cells in soft agar or by placing them at an agar-aqueous interface. (iv) Wild-type cells excrete surfactant, whereas two nonmotile mutants excrete reduced amounts.

Surface tension gradients: feasible model for gliding motility of Myxococcus xanthus

We propose that surface tension is the driving force for the gliding motility of Myxococcus xanthus. Our model requires that the cell be able to excrete surfactant in a polar and reversible fashion. We present calculations that (i) estimate the surface tension difference across a cell necessary to move the cell at the observed rate, which is less than 10(-5) dyn/cm, an extremely small value; (ii) estimate the rate of surfactant excretion necessary to produce the required surface tension difference, a rate that we conclude to be metabolically reasonable; (iii) predict the behavior of cells moving in close apposition to each other, and show that the model is consistent with observed behavior; and (iv) predict the behavior of cells moving in dense swarms. In an accompanying paper we present experimental evidence to support the surface tension model.

Insertions of Tn5 near genes that govern stimulatable cell motility in Myxococcus

Insertions of transposon Tn5 were used to examine the genetics of motility mutants in Myxococcus. Fifteen independent insertions of Tn5 were isolated that were linked to seven different loci that govern motility. Among the motility mutants that can be stimulated to move transiently by contact with other cells, a one-to-one correspondence was confirmed between specificity of stimulation and genetic locus. There are six different specificities and six corresponding loci, as if each locus governs a different protein required for gliding motility.

Unusual sulfonolipids are characteristic of the Cytophaga-Flexibacter group

Capnocytophaga spp. contain a group of unusual sulfonolipids, called capnoids (W. Godchaux III and E. R. Leadbetter, J. Bacteriol. 144:592-602, 1980). One of these lipids, capnine, is 2-amino-3-hydroxy-15-methylhexadecane-1-sulfonic acid; the others are, apparently, N-acylated versions of capnine. The lipids were found, in amounts ranging from 2.5 to 16 mumol of capnoid sulfur per g of cells (wet weight), in two Cytophaga spp. and also in several closely related organisms: several Capnocytophaga spp., Sporocytophaga myxococcoides, two Flexibacter spp., and two Flavobacterium spp. With the exception of the flavobacteria, all of these bacteria have been shown to exhibit gliding motility. The two Flavobacterium spp. belong to a subset of that genus that shares many other characteristics with the cytophagas. Only the Capnocytophaga spp. contained large quantities of capnine as such; in all of the others, most (and possibly all) of the capnoids were present as N-acylcapnines. Capnoid-negative bacteria included some gliding organisms that may not be closely related to the cytophagas: two fruiting myxobacters, a gliding cyanobacterium (Plectonema sp.), Beggiatoa alba, Vitreoscilla stercoraria, Herpetosiphon aurantiacus, and Lysobacter enzymogenes. Nongliding bacteria representing nine genera were also tested, and all of these fell into the capnoid-negative group.

Trail following by gliding bacteria

Slime trails, which are deposited on surfaces by gliding bacteria and which serve as preferential pathways for gliding motility, were tested for the species specificity of their support of movement. Among the pairs of bacteria tested, a variety of gliding bacteria and a flagellated bacterium moved along trails of unrelated species. Thus, the trails did not serve as pheromones. Rather, they may have guided gliding elasticotactically. Some biological implications of this finding are considered.

Flagellated ectosymbiotic bacteria propel a eucaryotic cell

A devescovinid flagellate from termites exhibits rapid gliding movements only when in close contact with other cells or with a substrate. Locomotion is powered not by the cell's own flagella nor by its remarkable rotary axostyle, but by the flagella of thousands of rod bacteria which live on its surface. That the ectosymbiotic bacteria actually propel the protozoan was shown by the following: (a) the bacteria, which lie in specialized pockets of the host membrane, bear typical procaryotic flagella on their exposed surface; (b) gliding continues when the devescovinid's own flagella and rotary axostyle are inactivated; (c) agents which inhibit bacterial flagellar motility, but not the protozoan's motile systems, stop gliding movements; (d) isolated vesicles derived from the surface of the devescovinid rotate at speeds dependent on the number of rod bacteria still attached; (e) individual rod bacteria can move independently over the surface of compressed cells; and (f) wave propagation by the flagellar bundles of the ectosymbiotic bacteria is visualized directly by video-enhanced polarization microscopy. Proximity to solid boundaries may be required to align the flagellar bundles of adjacent bacteria in the same direction, and/or to increase their propulsive efficiency (wall effect). This motility-linked symbiosis resembles the association of locomotory spirochetes with the Australian termite flagellate Mixotricha (Cleveland, L. R., and A. V. Grimstone, 1964, Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B Biol. Sci., 159:668-686), except that in our case propulsion is provided by bacterial flagella themselves. Since bacterial flagella rotate, an additional novelty of this system is that the surface bearing the procaryotic rotary motors is turned by the eucaryotic rotary motor within.