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Integrins are crucial for eukaryotic cell attachment and motility within the extracellular matrix via focal-adhesion formation, with their evolutionary emergence important for the development of multicellularity. INTERESTINGLY, single gliding Myxo cells form bacterial focal-adhesion (bFA) sites at which the gliding apparatus is immobilized. Herein, we identified the cell-surface protein CglD to be a beta-integrin-like protein that, along with the previously-identified CglB surface protein, is required for surface-coupling of the gliding apparatus. Specifically, CglD was found to confer traction and function in a calcium-dependent manner. These findings help explain bFA-mediated trans-envelope force transduction, from inner-membrane-embedded motors to the bacterial cell surface.
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