Highly Signal-Responsive Gene Regulatory Network Governing Myxococcus Development

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• 作者：Lee Kroos¹ ; ^{kroos@msu.edu}
• 关键词：gene regulatory network ; signal transduction ; bacterial development ; sporulation ; Myxococcus xanthus
• 刊名：Trends in Genetics
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：January 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：33
• 期：1
• 页码：3-15
• 全文大小：2413 K
• 卷排序：33

文摘

The bacterium Myxococcus xanthus undergoes multicellular development when starved. Thousands of cells build mounds in which some differentiate into spores. This remarkable feat and the genetic tractability of Myxococcus provide a unique opportunity to understand the evolution of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Recent work has revealed a GRN involving interconnected cascades of signal-responsive transcriptional activators. Initially, starvation-induced intracellular signals direct changes in gene expression. Subsequently, self-generated extracellular signals provide morphological cues that regulate certain transcriptional activators. However, signals for many of the activators remain to be discovered. A key insight is that activators often work combinatorially, allowing signal integration. The Myxococcus GRN differs strikingly from those governing sporulation of Bacillus and Streptomyces, suggesting that Myxococcus evolved a highly signal-responsive GRN to enable complex multicellular development.