Myxococcus xanthus is a Gram-negative soil bacterium capable of performing sophisticated cellular behaviors and growing one of the most intricate bacterial single-species biofilms in nature. During the process of biofilm formation, social behaviors of M. xanthus cells dominate key steps of the biofilm establishment, e.g., cellular motility on solid surface, predatory behavior by the grouped cells, kin recognition in the community, fruiting body development, myxospore differentiation, and programmed cell death. This review introduces the recent research progress about the M. xanthus biofilms.
黄色粘球菌具有多样化的细胞行为，具备典型多细胞水平的社会性特征。其形成的生物被膜是目前认知的最为复杂的单种群细菌生物被膜之一。黄色粘球菌的社会性细胞行为主导了其生物被膜形成过程中的关键环节，包括固体介质表面的细胞运动、群体细胞的捕食、亲缘细胞的识别、子实体的发育、粘孢子的分化以及细胞程序性死亡等行为过程。文中将介绍相关领域的研究进展。.
Keywords: Myxococcus xanthus; biofilm; cellular behavior; sociality.