Description:

Microbiology-Immunology Seminar Series

All cells sense and respond to physical and chemical cues in their environments. They accomplish this through signal transduction systems—networks of interacting proteins that detect and interpret specific input signals and control appropriate cellular responses. In bacteria, one of the major modes of signal transduction is mediated by a class of circuits that are composed of two components: a sensory protein and a response regulator. These two-component systems have been found in remarkable numbers within individual organisms and across different bacterial species. They play a central role in regulating basic aspects of microbial physiology and mediate responses to diverse environmental signals. I will describe recent work in which we have explored the organization and properties of these circuits in the well studied and genetically tractable organism Escherichia coli.

Mark Goulian, PhD

University of Pennsylvania

Host: Mark Mandel, PhD