Pph1 from Myxococcus xanthus is a protein phosphatase involved in vegetative growth and development

Myxococcus xanthus is a Gram-negative bacterium with a complex life cycle t hat includes vegetative swarming on rich medium and, upon starvation, aggre gation to form fruiting bodies containing spores, Both of these behaviours require multiple Ser/Thr protein kinases, In this paper, we report the firs t Ser/Thr protein phosphatase gene, pph1, from M. xanthus, DNA sequence ana lysis of pph1 indicates that it encodes a protein of 254 residues (M-r = 28 308) with strong homology to eukaryotic PP2C phosphatases and that it belo ngs to a new group of bacterial protein phosphatases that are distinct from bacterial PP2C phosphatases such as RsbU, RsbX and SpolIE. Recombinant His -tagged Pph1 was purified from Escherichia coli and shown to have Mn2+ or M g2+ dependent, okadaic acid-resistant phosphatase activity on a synthetic p hosphorylated peptide, RRA(pT)VA, indicating that Pph1 is a PP2C phosphatas e, Pph1-expression was observed under both vegetative and developmental con ditions, but peaked during early aggregation. A pph1 null mutant showed def ects during late vegetative growth, swarming and glycerol spore formation. Under starvation-induced developmental conditions, the mutant showed reduce d aggregation and failure to form fruiting bodies with viable spores. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we have observed a strong interaction between Pph1 and the M. xanthus protein kinase Pkn5, a negative effector of develo pment. These results suggest a functional link between a Pkn2-type protein kinase and a PP2C phosphatase.