✦ LIBER ✦
Fibrils as extracellular appendages of bacteria: Their role in contact-mediated cell-cell interactions in Myxococcus xanthus
✍ Scribed by Martin Dworkin
- Book ID
- 101298351
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 225 KB
- Volume
- 21
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0265-9247
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✦ Synopsis
Social behavior in the myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus involves epicellular, peritrichous appendages called fibrils. These are polysaccharide organelles containing a set of tightly adhering proteins. It is proposed that cell-cell contact is perceived by the fibrils and is mediated by the action of a fibrillar ADP-ribosyl transferase. Fibrils or fibril-like organelles have also been found on a variety of other gram-negative bacteria and at least one archaeon, and may mediate cell-cell contact between the bacteria themselves or between the bacteria and their eukaryotic host cells.