Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37422455›Full record

ArticleNature communications2023

Molecular basis and design principles of switchable front-rear polarity and directional migration in Myxococcus xanthus.

Luís António Menezes Carreira, Dobromir Szadkowski, Stefano Lometto, Georg K A Hochberg, Lotte Søgaard-Andersen

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
4.4field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The polar landscape of bacterial pathogens and predators.Current opinion in microbiology · 2026
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  7. Milestones in the development ofJournal of bacteriology · 2025
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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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Luís António Menezes CarreiraDepartment of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043, Marburg, Germany.
Dobromir SzadkowskiDepartment of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043, Marburg, Germany.
Stefano LomettoEvolutionary Biochemistry Group, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043, Marburg, Germany.
Georg K A HochbergEvolutionary Biochemistry Group, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043, Marburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-7155-0451
Lotte Søgaard-AndersenDepartment of Ecophysiology, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, 35043, Marburg, Germany. sogaard@mpi-marburg.mpg.de.ORCID 0000-0002-0674-0013
Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology · DELoewe Center for Synthetic Microbiology · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

During cell migration, front-rear polarity is spatiotemporally regulated; however, the underlying design of regulatory interactions varies. In rod-shaped Myxococcus xanthus cells, a spatial toggle switch dynamically regulates front-rear polarity. The polarity module establishes front-rear polarity by guaranteeing front pole-localization of the small GTPase MglA. Conversely, the Frz chemosensory system, by acting on the polarity module, causes polarity inversions. MglA localization depends on the RomR/RomX GEF and MglB/RomY GAP complexes that localize asymmetrically to the poles by unknown mechanisms. Here, we show that RomR and the MglB and MglC roadblock domain proteins generate a positive feedback by forming a RomR/MglC/MglB complex, thereby establishing the rear pole with high GAP activity that is non-permissive to MglA. MglA at the front engages in negative feedback that breaks the RomR/MglC/MglB positive feedback allosterically, thus ensuring low GAP activity at this pole. These findings unravel the design principles of a system for switchable front-rear polarity.

Indexed as

Monomeric GTP-Binding ProteinsMyxococcus xanthusBacterial ProteinsCell MovementCell PolarityBacterial ProteinsMonomeric GTP-Binding Proteins

Identifiers

PMID37422455
PMCPMC10329633
OpenAlexW4383618146

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.