How and why bacteria talk to each other

Article Abstract:

Bacteria have developed an intricate system of intercellular communication. An answer was sought to the molecular basis of information flow between the cells and how it could be used in development. The problem was tackled by studying cell-to-cell interaction. It was found that in Myxococcus Xanthus, four sequential intercellular signals were responsible for the breaking of vegetative cells into spores. Bioassay was employed to isolate signal molecules in wild-type cells that allow A- mutants to portray a lacz transcriptional fusion based on A signal.

author: Losick, Richard, Kaiser, Dale
Telecommunications systems

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Development and behavior in bacteria

Article Abstract:

Bacteria have an ability to survive in varied circumstances, making their study interesting. The bacterial cell environment is not static and the cells need to respond to changes it order to survive. Some cells activate adaptive genes and some move toward richer environments away from toxic ones. The mechanisms that activate communication between the bacterial cell and ligands, between two bacterial cells or between a bacterial cell and a plant cell provide rich examples of signal production and signal transduction.

author: Losick, Richard, Shapiro, Lucille, Kaiser, Dale
Physiological aspects

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Extracellular signal protein triggering the proteolytic activation of a developmental transcription factor in B. subtilis

Article Abstract:

Biochemical evidence suggests that an extracellular signal protein SpoIIR triggers membrane protein SpoIIGA-mediated processing of a proprotein in the intercellular signal transduction pathway in Bacillus subtilis. The proprotein and SpoIIGA are produced by SpoIIR in response to a factor cultured from B. subtilis cells. This factor is also detected in SpoIIR cells of Escherichia coli. The results suggest that SpoIIGA is both a receptor and a protease that interacts with SpoIIR.

author: Losick, Richard, Stragier, Patrick, Hofmeister, Antje E.M., Londono-Vallejo, Arturo, Harry, Elizabeth
Proteases, Bacillus subtilis

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subjects list: Research, Bacteria, Cellular signal transduction
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