RUI: Switching Between Single and Social Motility in Bacillus subtilis

本项目的长期目标是确定革兰氏阳性菌枯草芽孢杆菌模型如何决定参与单一或社会运动。本研究的目的是研究鞭毛基因在游泳（单）和群集（社会）细胞的差异表达。这项工作的中心假设是鞭毛基因簇在B中的差异表达。枯草杆菌染色体使细菌能够进行游泳或群集运动。这一假设是基于初步的发现，表明鞭毛基因聚集在B。subtilis，并且似乎受到不同的调节。了解细菌的社会行为是重要的，因为人们越来越认识到社会行为在自然环境中普遍存在。目前，关于细菌生理学的大部分知识都是基于对实验室中生长的单个细胞特性的分析，而不是对它们在自然多细胞群落中复杂行为的分析。完成拟议的研究将产生关于B中单个和社会行为的分子控制的基本科学知识。枯草杆菌，建立这种微生物作为一个重要的模型，在细菌的多细胞过程的研究。这项研究将在一个为少数民族服务的机构进行，项目每年培训6-8名本科生和硕士生，从而促进研究与教育之间的联系，并增加科学工作队伍的多样性。

The long-term goal of this project is to determine how the model Gram-positive organism, Bacillus subtilis, decides to engage in single or social motility. The objective of this research is to study the differential expression of flagellar genes in swimming (single) and swarming (social) cells. The central hypothesis for the work is that differential expression of the clusters of flagellar genes in the B. subtilis chromosome enables the bacterium to elaborate either swimming or swarming motility. This hypothesis is based on preliminary findings that demonstrate that flagellar genes are clustered in B. subtilis and appear to be regulated differently. An understanding of social behaviors in bacteria is significant due to the increased recognition that social behaviors prevail in the natural environment. Currently, much of what is known about bacterial physiology is based on analysis of individual cell properties as they grow in the laboratory, instead of the analysis of their sophisticated behaviors in natural multicellular communities. Completion of the proposed research will generate basic scientific knowledge about the molecular control of single and social behaviors in B. subtilis, establishing this microbe as an important model for the study of multicellular processes in bacteria. The research will be undertaken at a minority-serving institution and 6-8 undergraduates and master's students trained in each year of the project, thereby promoting the connection between research and education, as well as increasing the diversity of the scientific workforce.