Myxococcus xanthus initiates a developmental program in response to starvation that culminates in the formation of multicellular, spore-filled fruiting bodies. Development crucially depends on the coordination of temporally regulated changes in gene expression, motility, intercellular signaling, and signaling by nucleotide-based second messengers including (p)ppGpp and, as we have recently shown, c-di-GMP. c-di-GMP accumulates at elevated levels during development and this increase is essential for development.

The ultimate goal of this project is to understand how c-di-GMP accumulation is regulated during development and to identify the effector proteins that bind c-di-GMP and implement the effects of changing c-di-GMP levels.