Eukaryotic-like protein serine/threonine kinases in Myxococcus xanthus, a developmental bacterium exhibiting social behavior.

Myxococcus xanthus, a gram-negative bacterium exhibits a spectacular life cycle and social behavior. Its developmental cycle and multicellular morphogenesis resemble those of eukaryotic slime molds such as Dictyostelium discoideum. On the basis of this resemblance, we explored the existence of eukaryotic-like protein serine/threonine kinases which are known to play important roles in signal transduction during development of D. discoideum. It was indeed found that M. xanthus contains a large family of protein serine/threonine kinases related to the eukaryotic enzymes. This is the first unambiguous demonstration of eukaryotic-like serine/threonine kinases in the prokaryotes.