Myxobacteria are social microbial predators that use cell–cell contacts to identify bacterial or
fungal prey and to differentiate kin relatives to initiate cellular responses. For prey killing …

Highlights•Self-recognition mediated by homotypic binding of a dynamic polymorphic cell
surface receptor.•TraA and TraB function as a fusogen that mediates outer membrane cargo …

Myxococcus xanthus, a soil bacterium, predates collectively using motility to invade prey
colonies. Prey lysis is mostly thought to rely on secreted factors, cocktails of antibiotics and …

Microbes face many physical, chemical, and biological insults from their environments. In
response, cells adapt, but whether they do so cooperatively is poorly understood. Here, we …

Swarming is the collective movement of bacteria across a surface. It requires the production
of surfactants (public goods) to overcome surface tension and provides an excellent model …

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) is used by many Gram-negative bacteria to deploy toxic
effectors for interbacterial competition. This system provides a competitive advantage in …

Pseudomonas plecoglossicida is a facultative fish pathogen that possesses three distinct
type VI secretion systems (named T6SS-1, T6SS-2, and T6SS-3). Our previous work …

Bacterial proline-alanine-alanine-arginine (PAAR) proteins are located at the top of the type
VI secretion system (T6SS) nanomachine and carry and deliver effectors into neighboring …

Highlights•Motility, killing, and cell division are tightlycoupled during predation.•A molecular
switch controls assembly of the A-motility machinery.•Myxococcus kills its prey on contact by …

Soilborne Ralstonia solanacearum species complex (RSSC) pathogens disrupt microbial
communities as they invade roots and fatally wilt plants. RSSC pathogens secrete …