Abstract 2449 Does Arginine Kinase Bias the Switch? Examining if an Arginine Kinase Deletion Impacts Successful Fruiting Body Formation in Tan and Yellow Phase Changing Myxococcus xanthus

Phosphagen kinases (PKs) are a family of conserved enzymes that catalyze the reversible transfer of a phosphoryl group from ATP to a guanidino group (on molecules such as arginine or creatine) enabling the regulation of ATP in a dynamic metabolic buffering system. The PKs are predominately found in eukaryotic cells but surprisingly a few arginine kinases (AKs) have been identified in bacteria. These have been proposed to have become incorporated in the bacterial genomes through horizonal gene transfer.