Abstract

Swarming is a specialized form of bacterial motility that propels cells across a surface in a coordinated and social manner. Studied exclusively in the proteobacterial division, swarming is often a virulence factor for pathogens yet the physiology and regulation of swarming remain poorly understood. The research proposed here constitutes the first phenotypic and genetic characterization of swarming in a Gram positive bacterium, Bacillus subtilis. Interestingly, swarming motility found in wild B. subtilis isolates is lost in domesticated laboratory strains and thus presents a novel phenotype for this well studied organism. Multicellular behavior and morphological changes associated with the phenotype will be studied in detail. B. subtilis is a robust bacterial model genetic system and the genetic determinants of the swarming phenotype will be analyzed in three ways: I) directed mutagenesis of candidate genes predicted by comparative physiology, II) random transposon mutagenesis and III) microarray-based transcriptional analysis.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F32)
Project #
5F32GM066612-02
Application #
6640550
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-F08 (20))
Program Officer
Tompkins, Laurie
Project Start
2002-07-01
Project End
2004-06-30
Budget Start
2003-07-01
Budget End
2004-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$46,420
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Harvard University
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
082359691
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02138

  Publications

Chu, Frances; Kearns, Daniel B; Branda, Steven S et al. (2006) Targets of the master regulator of biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis. Mol Microbiol 59:1216-28
Branda, Steven S; Chu, Frances; Kearns, Daniel B et al. (2006) A major protein component of the Bacillus subtilis biofilm matrix. Mol Microbiol 59:1229-38
Fall, Ray; Kearns, Daniel B; Nguyen, Tam (2006) A defined medium to investigate sliding motility in a Bacillus subtilis flagella-less mutant. BMC Microbiol 6:31
Kinsinger, Rebecca F; Kearns, Daniel B; Hale, Marina et al. (2005) Genetic requirements for potassium ion-dependent colony spreading in Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol 187:8462-9
Kearns, Daniel B; Chu, Frances; Branda, Steven S et al. (2005) A master regulator for biofilm formation by Bacillus subtilis. Mol Microbiol 55:739-49
Kearns, Daniel B; Losick, Richard (2005) Cell population heterogeneity during growth of Bacillus subtilis. Genes Dev 19:3083-94
Kearns, Daniel B; Chu, Frances; Rudner, Rivka et al. (2004) Genes governing swarming in Bacillus subtilis and evidence for a phase variation mechanism controlling surface motility. Mol Microbiol 52:357-69
Kearns, Daniel B; Losick, Richard (2003) Swarming motility in undomesticated Bacillus subtilis. Mol Microbiol 49:581-90