Sorangium cellulosum is a soil-dwelling Gram-negativebacterium of the group myxobacteria.[1] It is motile and shows gliding motility. Under stressful conditions this motility, as in other myxobacteria, the cells congregate to form fruiting bodies and differentiate into myxospores. These congregating cells make isolation of pure culture and colony counts on agar medium difficult as the bacterium spread and colonies merge.[2] It has an unusually-large genome of 13,033,779 base pairs, making it the largest bacterial genome sequenced to date by roughly 4 Mb.[3][4]
Ecology
S. cellulosum is found in soils, animal feces, and tree bark.[5] The bacterium is a saprophyte deriving its nutrition from cellulose aerobically. It is a prolific producer of secondary fungicides and bactericides that reduce competition in soil environments.[6] In lab samples, S. cellulosum grows on agar medium only when certain cell densities are plated. Quorum-sensing allows Sorangium to grow in communities sufficiently large to metabolize cellulose.[2]
Secondary compounds
Sorangium produces 50% of all known metabolites produced by myxobacteria.[3] These include compounds that are antifungal, antibacterial, antibiotic resistant, or can even disable mammalian cells. These many compounds have sparked intense mining of its extensive genome in exploration of possible industrial and medical applications. Some of these secondary compounds include:
Ambruticin and Jerangolid A - Antifungal agents.
Chivosazol - a compound that destroys the actin skeleton of eukaryotic cells. It is effective against both fungal and mammalian cells.[7]
Epothilones - Compounds that target microtubule function leading to apoptosis.[8] Some derivatives are used to treat human cancers.
Myxochelin A - Antibacterial agent that acts by sequestering iron in the environment.[9]
Soraphen A - An agent highly effective against plant-pathogenic fungi. It was extensively researched for agricultural use until it was discovered to be a teratogen.[5]
^ abReichenbach H.; Hofle, G. (1999). "Myxobacteria as producer of secondary metabolites". In Grabley, S.; Thiericke, R. (eds.). Drug Discovery from Nature. pp. 149–179. ISBN978-3-540-66947-0.
^Pradella, S.; Hans, A.; Sproer, C.; Reichenbach, H.; Gerth, K.; Beyer, S. (2002). "Characterization, genome size and genetic manipulation of the myxobacerium Sorangium cellulosum So ce56". Arch Microbiol. 178 (6): 484–494. doi:10.1007/s00203-002-0479-2. PMID12420170. S2CID21023021.
^Perlova, Olena; Klaus Gerth; Olaf Kaiser; Astrid Hans; Rolf Müller (24 January 2006). "Identification and analysis of the chivosazol biosynthetic gene cluster from the myxobacterial model strain Sorangium cellulosum So ce56". Journal of Biotechnology. 121 (2): 174–191. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2005.10.011. PMID16313990.
^Goodin, Susan; Michael P. Kane; Eric H. Rubin (15 May 2004). "Epothilones: Mechanism of Action and Biologic Activity". Journal of Clinical Oncology. 22 (10): 2015–2025. doi:10.1200/JCO.2004.12.001. PMID15143095.
^Jaoua, S.; Neff, S.; Schupp, T. (1992). "Transfer of mobilizable plasmids to Sorangium cellulosum and evidence for their integration into the chromosome". Plasmid. 28 (2): 157–165. doi:10.1016/0147-619x(92)90046-d. PMID1409972.