Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 1995 Jul 1;9(13):1633-44.
doi: 10.1101/gad.9.13.1633.

Ectopic production of guanosine penta- and tetraphosphate can initiate early developmental gene expression in Myxococcus xanthus

M Singer  1 , D Kaiser
Affiliations
Free article
Comparative Study

Ectopic production of guanosine penta- and tetraphosphate can initiate early developmental gene expression in Myxococcus xanthus

M Singer et al. Genes Dev. .
Free article

Abstract

Amino acid or carbon limitation is sufficient to initiate fruiting body development in Myxococcus xanthus. In both Escherichia coli and M. xanthus the levels of guanosine 3'-di-5'-(tri)di-phosphate nucleotides [(p)ppGpp] rise transiently when cells are starved for amino acids or carbon. Ectopic increase in the intracellular concentration of (p)ppGpp was achieved in M. xanthus by introducing a copy of the E. coli relA gene, whose product catalyzes pyrophosphate transfer from ATP- to GTP-forming pppGpp. The E. coli RelA protein was detected in these M. xanthus strains, and a rise in (p)ppGpp was observed chromatographically. This increase in the intracellular (p)ppGpp levels was sufficient to activate developmentally specific gene expression. Although (p)ppGpp is made from GTP, the intracellular GTP pool from these strains was not significantly decreased. Moreover, when the GTP pool was lowered by either of two specific inhibitors of GTP synthesis, mycophenolic acid or decoyinine, development was not induced. These results suggest that M. xanthus cells can assess their nutritional status by monitoring the internal availability of amino acids through (p)ppGpp levels.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources