%0 Journal Article %A Ahrendt, Tilman %A Dauth, Christina %A Bode, Helge B. %T An iso-15 : 0 O-alkylglycerol moiety is the key structure of the E-signal in Myxococcus xanthus %D 2016 %J Microbiology, %V 162 %N 1 %P 138-144 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000169 %I Microbiology Society, %X The E-signal is one of five intercellular signals (named A- to E-signal) guiding fruiting body development in Myxococcus xanthus, and it has been shown to be a combination of the branched-chain fatty acid (FA) iso-15 : 0 and the diacylmonoalkyl ether lipid TG1. Developmental mutants HB015 (Δbkd MXAN_4265::kan) and elbD (MXAN_1528::kan) are blocked at different stages of fruiting body and spore formation as they cannot form the required iso-FA or the actual ether lipid, respectively. In order to define the structural basis of the E-signal, different mono- and triglycerides containing ether or ester bonds were synthesized and used for complementation of these mutants. Here, the monoalkylglyceride dl-1-O-(13-methyltetradecyl)glycerol exhibited comparably high levels of complementation in both mutants, restoring fruiting body and spore formation, identifying iso-15 : 0 O-alkylglycerol, part of the natural lipid TG1, as the ‘signalophore’ of E-signalling. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000169