Elucidating the regulation, structure, and function of interbacterial nanotubes (P19)

• Subject Area: Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
• Term: from 2016 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 180879236

Project P19 unravels the structural and regulatory components that are involved in the formation of interbacterial nanotubes and their role in cross-feeding. In the next period of funding, the structural and molecular basis of interbacterial nanotubes as well as their mode of function will be unravelled by (i) identification and analysis of the causal regulatory and structural genes, (ii) determination of nanotube function, and (iii) uncovering the factors governing host choice including the cytoplasmic or surface composition of donor cells as well as the phylogenetic or metabolic distance between amino acid donor and recipient strains.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 944: Physiology and Dynamics of Cellular Microcompartments
• Applicant Institution: Universität Osnabrück
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Christian Kost