Regulations governing the multicellular lifestyle of Myxococcus xanthus

[Display omitted] •M. xanthus uses multicellular cooperation throughout its life cycle.•Multicellularity of M. xanthus is governed by an evolved Che-like pathway.•The Frz signaling pathway has a remarkable modular organization.•The regulation of the Frz pathway is multiple. In living organisms, cooperative cell movements underlie the formation of differentiated tissues. In bacteria, Myxococcus xanthus uses cooperative group movements, to predate on prey and to form multicellular fruiting bodies, where the cells differentiate into dormant spores. Motility is controlled by a central signaling Che-like pathway, Frz. Single cell studies indicate Frz regulates the frequency at which cells reverse their direction of movement by transmitting signals to a molecular system that controls the spatial activity of the motility engines. This regulation is central to all Myxococcus multicellular behaviors but how Frz signaling generates ordered patterns is poorly understood. In this review, we first discuss the genetic structure of the Frz pathway and possible regulations that could explain its action during Myxococcus development.