ArticleJournal of bacteriology2014
Myxobacteria produce outer membrane-enclosed tubes in unstructured environments.
Article in Journal of bacteriology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bacterial nanotubes extend from a tubeosome organelle to establish an intercellular bridge.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
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- Predatory myxobacteria lay at the cross-roads of metallo-β-lactamase evolution.Communications biology · 2026Article
- A family of endonucleases blocks nanotube-mediated plasmid exchange.Nature microbiology · 2026Article
- Review
- Ultrastructure Analysis by Cryo-Electron Tomography Revealed Mesosomes in the Gram-negative Delftia Acidovorans.Microbial ecology · 2026Article
- Intercellular signal transduction within the mother cell compartment during Bacillus subtilis sporulation.FEMS microbiology letters · 2026Article
- Outer membrane tube formation bymBio · 2025Article
- Interactions of Gram-Positive Bacterial Membrane Vesicles and Hosts: Updates and Future Directions.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Interactions between extracellular vesicles and microbiome in human diseases: New therapeutic opportunities.iMeta · 2023Review
- Predatory Strategies ofMicroorganisms · 2023Article
- Membrane vesicles inFrontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Commensal and Pathogenic Bacterial-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Host-Bacterial and Interbacterial Dialogues: Two Sides of the Same Coin.Journal of immunology research · 2022Review
- Article
- Article
- Article
- Membrane nanotubes are ancient machinery for cell-to-cell communication and transport. Their interference with the immune system.Biologia futura · 2021Review
- Bacterial nanotubes as a manifestation of cell death.Nature communications · 2020Article
- The Fluidity of the Bacterial Outer Membrane Is Species Specific: Bacterial Lifestyles and the Emergence of a Fluid Outer Membrane.BioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2020Article
- Cytonemes Versus Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in the Fight of Neutrophils with Microbes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Review
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Abstract
Myxobacteria are social microbes that exhibit complex multicellular behaviors. By use of fluorescent reporters, we show that Myxococcus xanthus isolates produce long narrow filaments that are enclosed by the outer membrane (OM) and contain proteins. We show that these OM tube (OMT) structures are produced at surprisingly high levels when cells are placed in liquid medium or buffer without agitation. OMTs can be long and easily exceed multiple cell lengths. When viewed by transmission electron microscopy, their morphology varies between tubes and chain-like structures. Intermediate-like structures are also found, suggesting that OMTs may transition between these two morphotypes. In support of this, video epifluorescence microscopy found that OMTs in solution dynamically twist and jiggle. On hard surfaces, myxobacteria glide, and upon cell-cell contact, they can efficiently exchange their OM proteins and lipids by a TraAB-dependent mechanism. Although the structure of OMTs hints at a possible role as conduits for exchange, evidence is presented to the contrary. For example, abundant OMT production occurs in traA or traB mutants and when cells are grown in liquid medium, yet transfer cannot occur under these conditions. Thus, genetic and environmental conditions that promote OMT production are incongruent with OM exchange.
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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.