Cell behaviors underlying Myxococcus xanthus aggregate dispersal

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dc.citation.articleNumbere00425-23en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber5en_US
dc.citation.journalTitlemSystemsen_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber8en_US
dc.contributor.authorMurphy, Patricken_US
dc.contributor.authorComstock, Jessicaen_US
dc.contributor.authorKhan, Trosporshaen_US
dc.contributor.authorZhang, Jiangguoen_US
dc.contributor.authorWelch, Royen_US
dc.contributor.authorIgoshin, Oleg A.en_US
dc.contributor.orgCenter for Theoretical Physical Biologyen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-05-08T18:56:13Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-05-08T18:56:13Zen_US
dc.date.issued2023en_US
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.en_US
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.00425-23en_US
dc.identifier.digitalcell-behaviors-underlying-myxococcus-xanthus-aggregate-dispersalen_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00425-23en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/115695en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Society for Microbiologyen_US
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.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.titleCell behaviors underlying Myxococcus xanthus aggregate dispersalen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
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