Cell behaviors underlying Myxococcus xanthus aggregate dispersal

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dc.citation.articleNumbere00425-23
dc.citation.issueNumber5
dc.citation.journalTitlemSystems
dc.citation.volumeNumber8
dc.contributor.authorMurphy, Patrick
dc.contributor.authorComstock, Jessica
dc.contributor.authorKhan, Trosporsha
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Jiangguo
dc.contributor.authorWelch, Roy
dc.contributor.authorIgoshin, Oleg A.
dc.contributor.orgCenter for Theoretical Physical Biology
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-08T18:56:13Z
dc.date.available2024-05-08T18:56:13Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstractThe soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus is a model organism with a set of diverse behaviors. These behaviors include the starvation-induced multicellular development program, in which cells move collectively to assemble multicellular aggregates. After initial aggregates have formed, some will disperse, with smaller aggregates having a higher chance of dispersal. Initial aggregation is driven by two changes in cell behavior: cells slow down inside of aggregates and bias their motion by reversing direction less frequently when moving toward aggregates. However, the cell behaviors that drive dispersal are unknown. Here, we use fluorescent microscopy to quantify changes in cell behavior after initial aggregates have formed. We observe that after initial aggregate formation, cells adjust the bias in reversal timings by initiating reversals more rapidly when approaching unstable aggregates. Using agent-based modeling, we then show dispersal is predominantly generated by this change in bias, which is strong enough to overcome slowdown inside aggregates. Notably, the change in reversal bias is correlated with the nearest aggregate size, connecting cellular activity to previously observed correlations between aggregate size and fate. To determine if this connection is consistent across strains, we analyze a second M. xanthus strain with reduced levels of dispersal. We find that far fewer cells near smaller aggregates modified their bias. This implies that aggregate dispersal is under genetic control, providing a foundation for further investigations into the role it plays in the life cycle of M. xanthus.
dc.identifier.citationMurphy, P., Comstock, J., Khan, T., Zhang, J., Welch, R., & Igoshin, O. A. (2023). Cell behaviors underlying Myxococcus xanthus aggregate dispersal. mSystems, 8(5), e00425-23. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00425-23
dc.identifier.digitalcell-behaviors-underlying-myxococcus-xanthus-aggregate-dispersal
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00425-23
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/115695
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherAmerican Society for Microbiology
dc.rightsExcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.titleCell behaviors underlying Myxococcus xanthus aggregate dispersal
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpublisher version
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