lysteria monocytogenes and shigella flexerni use actin based motility to spread to other cells

Lysteria monocytogenes and Shigella flexerni use actin based motility to spread to other cells

-Cause diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and can lead to menningitis and spontaneous abortions

-Causes death in immunocompromised people (children, elderly, AIDS patients)

-Produce a protein that encourages production of actin filaments at the cell surface

-Propels bacteria through the cytoplasm (Comet tails)

-Rams into the cytoplasmic membrane and pushes through into the next cell

-Avoids much of the immune system

Movies: http://cmgm.stanford.edu/theriot/movies.htm#Hits

Close up of single bacterium (Vibrio) Bacteria (Vibrio) glowing on a petri dish

Vibrio fischeri and its host, the bobtail squid

Light organs on squid belly useVibrio to reflect the same wavelength of light as the moon, hiding their shadow from preditors

Pineapple fish-lower jaw contains a photophore whereVibrio reside. The bioluminescence attracts zooplankton.-glows orange during the day, blue green by night.

Vibrio and its host, the Pineapple fish

The angler fish uses bioluminescent bacteria to attract prey

http://subrealism.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Quorum sensing in Vibrio

Bioluminescence is very expensive so the cells only want to bioluminesce when other cells are around. No point if they’re not in the squid light organ.

The amazing Myxococcus xanthus

Myxococcus xanthus cell

A Myxococcus swarm

Myxococcus

Aggregation and “rippling” of Myxococcus

Dictyostellum discoideum-slime mold fruiting bodies (amoeba)

Myxococcus fruiting bodies

Fruiting bodies

Dictyostellum discoideum-slime mold fruiting bodies (amoeba)

Slime mold fruiting bodies

Bacillus fruiting body. A sporulation gene was fused with lacZand the cells were plated on medium containing x-gal. You can see the where sporulation occurs by the dark blue color

Branda S S et al. PNAS 2001;98:11621-11626

Bacillus fruiting bodies

Movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1jPzhz1Qyc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkVhLJLG7ug&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVGEFGzS7Wo&feature=related

Healthy ant

Zombie ants