Biosynthesis and function of cell-surface polysaccharides in the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus.

Biosynthesis and function of cell-surface polysaccharides in the social bacterium Myxococcus xanthus. Biol Chem. 2020 Aug 01;: Authors: Pérez-Burgos M, Søgaard-Andersen L Abstract In bacteria, cell-surface polysaccharides fulfill important physiological functions, including interactions with the environment and other cells as well as protection from diverse stresses. The Gram-negative delta-proteobacterium Myxococcus xanthus is a model to study social behaviors in bacteria. M. xanthus synthesizes four cell-surface polysaccharides, i.e. exopolysaccharide (EPS), biosurfactant polysaccharide (BPS), spore coat polysaccharide, and O-antigen. Here, we describe recent progress in elucidating the three Wzx/Wzy-dependent pathways for EPS, BPS and spore coat polysaccharide biosynthesis and the ABC transporterdependent pathway for O-antigen biosynthesis. Moreover, we describe the functions of these four cell-surface polysaccharides in the social life cycle of M. xanthus. PMID: 32769218 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Biological Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Tags: Biol Chem Source Type: research