Analysis of the products of the Myxococcus xanthus frz genes

Abstract

The frizzy (frz) genes of Myxococcus xanthus control the ability of cells to reverse direction of gliding motility. The orientation of the frz genes was studied by isolating transcriptional fusions with the transposon derivative Tn5-lac. The frz genes were then cloned in the proper orientation in an expression vector. By using maxicell experiments, we were able to identify several labeled bands which were plasmid encoded. To identify the labeled proteins and their respective genes, we constructed deletion plasmids in which various regions of the insert DNA had been removed. The plasmid-encoded proteins were then labeled in maxicell experiments, and the bands which correspond to the frzCD, frzE, and frzF gene products were identified. The sizes of the gene products agreed with the genetic and physical map of the cloned DNA.