Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30013238›Full record

ArticleNature microbiology2018

A gated relaxation oscillator mediated by FrzX controls morphogenetic movements in Myxococcus xanthus.

Mathilde Guzzo, Seán M Murray, Eugénie Martineau, Sébastien Lhospice, Grégory Baronian, Laetitia My, Yong Zhang, Leon Espinosa, Renaud Vincentelli, Benjamin P Bratton and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature microbiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Milestones in the development ofJournal of bacteriology · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Mechanotaxis directsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021
    Article
  13. Linking single-cell decisions to collective behaviours in social bacteria.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2021
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Mathilde GuzzoLaboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3360-3719
Seán M MurrayMax Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology and LOEWE Centre for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO), Marburg, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2260-0774
Eugénie MartineauLaboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
Sébastien LhospiceLaboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
Grégory BaronianLaboratoire de Dynamique des Interactions Membranaires Normales et Pathologiques, CNRS Universités de Montpellier II et I, Montpellier, France.
Laetitia MyLaboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
Yong ZhangLaboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2968-0081
Leon EspinosaLaboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
Renaud VincentelliUnité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7257, CNRS Aix-Marseille University, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), Marseille, France.
Benjamin P BrattonLewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1128-2560
Joshua W ShaevitzLewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
Virginie MolleLaboratoire de Dynamique des Interactions Membranaires Normales et Pathologiques, CNRS Universités de Montpellier II et I, Montpellier, France.
Martin HowardComputational and Systems Biology John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK. martin.howard@jic.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7670-0781
Tâm MignotLaboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne, CNRS-Aix Marseille University UMR 7283, Institut de Microbiologie de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France. tmignot@imm.cnrs.fr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4338-9063

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBS/E/J/000C0620Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBS/E/J/000PR9773
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Dynamic control of cell polarity is of critical importance for many aspects of cellular development and motility. In Myxococcus xanthus, MglA, a G protein, and MglB, its cognate GTPase-activating protein, establish a polarity axis that defines the direction of movement of the cell and that can be rapidly inverted by the Frz chemosensory system. Although vital for collective cell behaviours, how Frz triggers this switch has remained unknown. Here, we use genetics, imaging and mathematical modelling to show that Frz controls polarity reversals via a gated relaxation oscillator. FrzX, which we identify as a target of the Frz kinase, provides the gating and thus acts as the trigger for reversals. Slow relocalization of the polarity protein RomR then creates a refractory period during which another switch cannot be triggered. A secondary Frz output, FrzZ, decreases this delay, allowing rapid reversals when required. Thus, this architecture results in a highly tuneable switch that allows a wide range of reversal frequencies.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsCell PolarityGTPase-Activating ProteinsModels, TheoreticalMyxococcus xanthusSignal TransductionBacterial ProteinsFrzZ protein, Myxococcus xanthusGTPase-Activating ProteinsMglA protein, Myxococcus xanthus

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.