SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION DURING SWARMER CELL DIFFERENTIATION

描述：这项研究的长期目标是提供一种基因 理解细菌生长的生理反应的框架 在表面生物膜中。这些反应对我们的生态和环境有很大的影响 我们的健康。我们的模型系统是表面诱导的swarmer细胞 本实验室在大肠杆菌和S。 鼠伤寒沙门氏菌，已知由几种鞭毛细菌引起。 蜂群细胞通常长而多核，总是有上鞭毛， 并且能够以协调的方式在琼脂表面上快速移动。那里 是一些细菌分化的游动细胞阶段的证据 促进病原与宿主组织的联系。几乎没有什么是 了解表面传感的分子信号机制。在……里面 已经对群体运动进行了较详细研究的生物体， 趋化系统已被证明发挥着重要作用。具体的 这项建议的目的是了解 趋化性成分参与表面信号转导， 最终开启了沼泽细胞特有的基因表达。我们相信 了解蜂拥而至的遗传基础 大肠杆菌和鼠伤寒沙门氏菌等细菌将提供有价值的线索 了解其他微生物的表面特异性行为。

DESCRIPTION: The long term goal of this research is to provide a genetic framework for understanding the physiological responses of bacteria growing in surface biofilms. These responses have a large impact on our ecology and our health. Our model system is the surface-induced swarmer cell differentiation response discovered in our laboratory in E. coli and S. typhimurium, and known to be elicited by several flagellated bacteria. Swarmer cells are generally long and multinucleate, always hyperflagellated, and can move rapidly over the agar surface in a coordinated manner. There is evidence that the differentiated swarmer-cell stage of some bacteria facilitates pathogenic associations with host tissue. Almost nothing is known about the molecular signaling mechanism of surface sensing. In organisms in which swarming motility has been studied in some detail, the chemotaxis system has been shown to play an important role. The specific aims of this proposal are to understand the mechanism by which the chemotaxis components participate in surface signal transduction, which eventually turns on swarmer cell-specific gene expression. We believe that understanding the genetic basis of swarming in such well-characterized bacteria as E. coli and S. typhimurium will provide valuable clues to understanding surface-specific behaviors in other microorganisms.