ArticleJournal of bacteriology2011
Antibiotic production by myxobacteria plays a role in predation.
Article in Journal of bacteriology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 163 citations in OpenAlex.
- Predatory Mechanisms of Myxobacteria and Their Potential in the Development of Biocontrol Agents.Journal of microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Review
- Discovery of Partner Protein-Dependent Graspetide Biosynthesis.ACS chemical biology · 2026Article
- Optimized fermentation of Myxococcus fulvus WCH05 enhances biocontrol of pear fire blight in the field.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Laboratory screening and field validation ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Bottleneck size drives the evolution of cooperative traits in an aggregative multicellular myxobacterium.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Contrasts in niche breadth and its drivers between soil microbes and plants in alpine grasslands.ISME communications · 2026Article
- From predation to function: how myxobacteria drive soil microbial community dynamics and ecological functions.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Milestones in the development ofJournal of bacteriology · 2025Review
- Genomic insights into novel predatory myxobacteria isolated from human feces.Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
- Article
- Predatory Bacteria in the Treatment of Infectious Diseases and Beyond.Infectious disease reports · 2024Review
- Deciphering the Biosynthesis and Physiological Function of 5-Methylated Pyrazinones Produced by Myxobacteria.ACS central science · 2024Article
- Siderophores and competition for iron govern myxobacterial predation dynamics.The ISME journal · 2024Article
- From predator to protector:Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Corrigendum: Active substances of myxobacteria against plant diseases and their action mechanisms.Frontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Review
- Globally distributed Myxococcota with photosynthesis gene clusters illuminate the origin and evolution of a potentially chimeric lifestyle.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Predatory bacteria as potential biofilm control and eradication agents in the food industry.Food science and biotechnology · 2023Review
- Two reasons to kill: predation and kin discrimination in myxobacteria.Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2023Review
- Predation of oomycetes by myxobacteria via a specialized CAZyme system arising from adaptive evolution.The ISME journal · 2023Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Myxobacteria are predatory and are prolific producers of secondary metabolites. Here, we tested a hypothesized role that secondary metabolite antibiotics function as weapons in predation. To test this, a Myxococcus xanthus Δta1 mutant, blocked in antibiotic TA (myxovirescin) production, was constructed. This TA(-) mutant was defective in producing a zone of inhibition (ZOI) against Escherichia coli. This shows that TA is the major M. xanthus-diffusible antibacterial agent against E. coli. Correspondingly, the TA(-) mutant was defective in E. coli killing. Separately, an engineered E. coli strain resistant to TA was shown to be resistant toward predation. Exogenous addition of spectinomycin, a bacteriostatic antibiotic, rescued the predation defect of the TA(-) mutant. In contrast, against Micrococcus luteus the TA(-) mutant exhibited no defect in ZOI or killing. Thus, TA plays a selective role on prey species. To extend these studies to other myxobacteria, the role of antibiotic corallopyronin production in predation was tested and also found to be required for Corallococcus coralloides killing on E. coli. Next, a role of TA production in myxobacterial fitness was assessed by measuring swarm expansion. Here, the TA(-) mutant had a specific swarm rate reduction on prey lawns, and thus reduced fitness, compared to an isogenic TA(+) strain. Based on these observations, we conclude that myxobacterial antibiotic production can function as a predatory weapon. To our knowledge, this is the first report to directly show a link between secondary metabolite production and predation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.