Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Microbial Biology for FY 2000

Millikan, Deborah S, Honolulu HI

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for 2000. The research and training plan is in the area of Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology and is entitled "Motility-related Symbiotic Determinants in Vibro fischeri". The interaction between microbe and host is a dynamic process that requires phenotypic changes by both partners and likely the coordinated regulation of specific genes for the success of this association. The symbiotic interaction between the luminous bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the bobtail squid Euprymna scolopes is a model system for investigating the role of bacterial motility in the colonization of animal tissue. While V. fischeri cells present in seawater must be motile to migrate to the initial site of colonization in the juvenile squid, a role for motility in the colonization of specific locations within the animal has not been investigated. This research 1. Experimentally identifies colonization stage-specific regulation of motility genes and 2. Explores, via two approaches, the ability of V. fischeri to coordinately regulate motility genes with other colonization factors. The first approach is to examine symbiotic capacity of V. fischeri mutants that exhibit an altered motility phenotype, while the second approach is to experimentally investigate the role of the bacterium's polar flagellum, which is thought to play a role in gene regulation within the bacteria. The results of the proposed work will likely serve as a model that provides an improved understanding of the role of motility and co-regulated symbiotic factors in bacterial host interactions.