Myxobacteria: Genomics, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Myxobacteria have fascinated generations of scientists since discovery over a century ago. These bacteria represent the epitome of complex prokaryotic behavior. Their predatory swarms move over solid surfaces, utilizing two distinct motility machineries: one driven by retractable pili and the other by a novel gliding machinery. Furthermore, under nutrient limitation, myxobacteria enter a developmental program featuring distinct cell fates and culminating in the formation of multicellular fruiting bodies filled with dormant spores. In this book, expert myxobiologists describe important recent advances in understanding the behavior of these bacteria at a molecular and cellular level. The book covers ecology, genomics, and cell biology, as well as modeling and simulation on topics including motility, development, and their associated genetic regulatory networks. It provides the most up-to-date overview on myxobacteria and highlights open questions in the active areas of research. Serving as an essential reference for everyone working with myxobacteria, the book's chapters have been written and structured to be accessible to teachers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students new to myxobacteria, as well as to experts in other fields, including physical and computational sciences.