Unorthodox regulation of the MglA Ras-like GTPase controlling polarity in Myxococcus xanthus

Abstract

Motile cells have developed a large array of molecular machineries to actively change their direction of movement in response to spatial cues from their environment. In this process, small GTPases act as molecular switches and work in tandem with regulators and sensors of their guanine nucleotide status (GAP, GEF, GDI and effectors) to dynamically polarize the cell and regulate its motility. In this review, we focus on Myxococcus xanthus as a model organism to elucidate the function of an atypical small Ras GTPase system in the control of directed cell motility. M. xanthus cells direct their motility by reversing their direction of movement through a mechanism involving the redirection of the motility apparatus to the opposite cell pole. The reversal frequency of moving M. xanthus cells is controlled by modular and interconnected protein networks linking the chemosensory-like frizzy (Frz) pathway – that transmits environmental signals – to the downstream Ras-like Mgl polarity control system – that comprises the Ras-like MglA GTPase protein and its regulators. Here, we discuss how variations in the GTPase interactome landscape underlie single-cell decisions and consequently, multicellular patterns.