My goal is to understand the systematic modulation of gene expression in response to problems duringDNA replication. Failure to complete DMA replication in a timely manner can lead to cell death or genomeinstability, often associated with cancer. In many organisms, the effects of DNA damage and other causesof distress during replication are often mitigated through transcriptional responses. Recently, a novel globaltranscriptional response was identified in a functional genomic analysis of Bacillus subtilis cells perturbed inDNA replication. At least 50 of these genes are thought to be regulated by DnaA, an essential and wellconserved ATPase, transcription factor, and replication initiator. I plan to identify the genes directlyregulated by DnaA in B. subtilis, address how DnaA is activated as a transcriptional regulator, and examinehow its target promoters are structured to respond to it.
| Breier, Adam M; Grossman, Alan D (2007) Whole-genome analysis of the chromosome partitioning and sporulation protein Spo0J (ParB) reveals spreading and origin-distal sites on the Bacillus subtilis chromosome. Mol Microbiol 64:703-18 |
