Defects in contact-stimulated gliding during aggregation by Myxococcus xanthus

During development, Myxococcus xanthus cells glide toward foci of aggregation and produce compact multicellular mounds. We studied development in strains with defects in contact-stimulated gliding. Contact stimulation involves a mechanism influenced by contacts between neighboring cells which stimulates the gliding motility of single cells (Hodgkin and Kaiser, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74:2938-2942, 1977; Hodgkin and Kaiser, Mol. Gen. Genet. 171:167-176, 1979). Most mutants containing a mutation in a single gene affecting contact stimulation (cgl gene) were able to form foci of aggregation during development. However, the aggregates were diffuse, suggesting that contact stimulation is important for morphogenetic movements during aggregation. A mutant containing a mutation in the cglF3 gene showed a striking delay in aggregation, suggesting that the cglF3 gene affects a mechanism stimulating cells moving to foci or affects a mechanism for coordinating early cell behavior. Mutants containing the cglF3 mutation in combination with a cglB, cglC, cglE, or cglF1 mutation had severe defects in aggregation and failed to recover from the early delay. The severity of the defects in mutants containing two cgl mutations suggests that cgl genes are critical for development. We propose that cgl genes stimulate cell movement or control specific contacts between cells during aggregation.