Allosteric regulation of a prokaryotic small Ras-like GTPase contributes to cell polarity oscillations in bacterial motility
Fig 1
Localization of cell polarity determining proteins in M. xanthus.
Schematic showing the localization of MglA, MglB, and RomRX in M. xanthus. MglA (GTP-bound state) localizes to the leading pole, whereas MglB and RomRX mainly localize at the lagging pole. A polarity reversal occurs when the proteins relocalize. A signaling cascade consisting of the Frz-signaling proteins drives the polarity reversals. MglA, MglB, and RomRX are represented as green, magenta, and orange spheres. The asymmetry in the size of orange spheres at the 2 poles denotes the asymmetric localization of RomR, with higher concentration at the lagging pole. FrzXP and FrzZP denote phosphorylated states of FrzX and FrzZ, respectively. Frz, frizzy; Mgl, mutual gliding motility.