Project Details
Projekt
The role of the Rcs signaling system in cell growth and size heterogeneity
Applicant
Athanasios Typas, Ph.D.
Subject Area
Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
Term
from 2015 to 2019
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 276691831
The Rcs signaling system is highly conserved in enteric bacteria. It senses a number of perturbations in the cell envelope and in turn activates a multi-faceted adaptive response, which is essential for proliferating in many natural environments, including inside the host. We have recently identified that the Rcs system: a) can directly sense the activity of the Bam machinery, which inserts beta-barrel proteins in the outer-membrane of Gram-negative bacterial, and b) is an internal fine-tuner of the cell cycle- linking the activities of the cell elongation and division machineries and providing a homeostatic mechanism to maintain cell growth and shape/size under cell envelope perturbations. Yet, recent evidence suggests that the Rcs system may be also implied in imposing cell growth heterogeneity among intracellular Salmonella Typhimurium cells. Phenotypic variation at the level of growth, cell size/shape and antibiotic tolerance seems to be prevalent and vital for intracellular pathogens during their infection cycle. We propose to: a) model the dynamics of the better understood part of the Rcs response; b) elucidate the molecular players and mechanisms that allow the Rcs to control division rates and thereby change cell growth and size; and c) to understand how the cell exploits a homeostatic response that is meant to keep constant cell growth and size and uses it to impart heterogeneity at the same levels. Overall this work aims at shedding light into the molecular details that underlay the generation of heterogeneity in bacterial cell growth and shape during infection.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
