Research Interests:
- Multicellular hunting in Myxococcus xanthus biofilms
- Genetics of emergent patterns
- Mutation analysis of the one-component signal transduction systems in Myxococcus xanthus
- Development of high-throughput microbial techniques
Link to Welch lab: http://myxococcus.syr.edu
A swarm of the δ-proteobacterium Myxococcus xanthus is a distributed system; a population of superposable automata whose distribution is transparent so that it appears as one machine. These swarms contain millions of predatory cells that act as a collective, exhibiting coordinated movement through a series of signals to create complex, dynamic patterns as a response to environmental cues. These patterns are considered emergent as they cannot be predicted by observing the behavior of the individual cells. One such pattern, development, is caused by environmental stress. Upon starvation the swarm build multicellular fruiting bodies using a developmental program that progressively changes the pattern of cell movement and the repertoire of genes expressed. Each fruiting body contains around 100,000 quiescent and stress resistant spores. Once conditions are favorable, these spores germinate to form an instant swarm.
Figure:
A: A multicellular swarm of M. xanthus grown on 1% casitone
B: A multicellular swarm of M. xanthus hunting prey bacteria
C: M. xanthus fruiting bodies. Each fruiting body contains approx. 100,000 spores
D: Fruiting body side view
Publications:
Taylor R.G., Welch RD. Identification and characterization of transcriptional regulators that control emergent multicellular behavior in Myxococcus xanthus. In Prep.
Murphy K, Taylor R.G., Suen G, Welch RD, Garza AG. Verification of gene function via phylogenomic mapping. In Prep.
Suen, G., Arshinoff, B.I., Taylor, R.G. & R.D. Welch. 2007. Practical Applications of Bacterial Functional Genomics. Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering Reviews 24: 213-242.
Suen G, Arshinoff BI, Taylor RG, Welch RD. The practical applications of bacterial functional genomics. Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Reviews 24: 213-242.
Srinivasan, B.S., Caberoy, N.B., Suen, G., Taylor, R.G., Shah, R., Tengra, F., Goldman, B.S., Garza, A.G. & Welch, R.D. 2005. Functional Genome Annotation through Phylogenomic Mapping. Nature Biotechnology 23(6): 691 - 698.
|
