Regulatory response to environmental challenge in caulobacter crescentus
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Bacteria have evolved robust systems to sense environmental stimuli and limit proliferation under unfavorable conditions. While bacterial defense mechanisms have been characterized, the integration of environmental signals into the regulation of growth and development remains for the most part a mystery. The goal of this work was to identify the mechanisms by which the aquatic bacterium C. crescentus integrates information from the environment into the regulation of growth and development. I studied the transcript and protein changes that occur in C. crescentus in response to nutritional deprivation. The integration of high-throughput transcriptome and proteome analyses allowed me to obtain a comprehensive view of the process. The transcriptome changes were the starting point for the identification of genetic regulatory pathways involved in the response to environmental challenge. The alternative sigma factor SigT, one of the key regulators identified, was shown to activate the expression of a core set of general starvation-stress response genes that are cell cycle regulated during normal development in C. crescentus, and are candidates to mediate the inhibition of growth and division occurring upon environmental challenge. Furthermore, the SigT pathway was shown to directly integrate information from the environment into the circuit that regulates cell cycle progression, through the post-transcriptional regulation of the CtrA master regulator. The molecular analyses were complemented with cell biology studies, which revealed the differential effects of starvation and osmotic stress on chromosome replication and polar morphogenesis in swarmer cells. Overall, this work contributes to the emerging understanding of how the well-characterized regulatory circuit that controls cell cycle progression in C. crescentus integrates environmental signals.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Britos Cavagnaro, Leticia Cristina |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Developmental Biology. |
| Primary advisor | Shapiro, Lucy |
| Thesis advisor | Shapiro, Lucy |
| Thesis advisor | Batzoglou, Serafim |
| Thesis advisor | Kingsley, David M. (David Mark) |
| Thesis advisor | Talbot, William |
| Advisor | Batzoglou, Serafim |
| Advisor | Kingsley, David M. (David Mark) |
| Advisor | Talbot, William |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Leticia Cristina Britos Cavagnaro. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Developmental Biology. |
| Thesis | Ph.D. Stanford University 2011 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Leticia Cristina Britos Cavagnaro
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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