[Frontier Leaders] The Role of a Small Signaling Molecule in Coordinating Development and Cell Cycle Control

Frontier Leaders Seminar

Title: The Role of a Small Signaling Molecule in Coordinating Development and Cell Cycle Control

Speaker: Urs Jenal

Affiliation: Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland

Abstract:

Fundamental to all living organisms is the capacity to coordinate cell division and cell differentiation to generate appropriate numbers of specialized cells. Whereas eukaryotes  use cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases to balance division with cell fate decisions, equivalent regulatory systems have not been described in bacteria. Moreover, the mechanisms used by bacteria to tune division in line with developmental programs are poorly understood. We study these basic cellular processes in the model organism Caulobacter crescentus, which divides asymmetrically to generate two distinct daughter cells, a sessile stalked and a flagellated and motile swarmer cell. Cell fate and cell cycle progression are controlled by an intimate interplay between cyclic di-GMP signaling and phosphorylation networks, following the general view that high intracellular c-di-GMP levels favor settlement and surface attachment, whereas low levels correlate with planktonic behavior. This talk will review the current knowledge of spatial and temporal regulation of c-di-GMP during the C. crescentus cell cycle, will provide a quantitative view on c-di-GMP oscillations, and will give novel insights into specific mechanisms regulating cell cycle and development in response to c-di-GMP gradients.