Membraneless Organelles and Wisdom of the Crowds: Novel Mechanisms Underlying Regulation in Bacteria

Date:
14
Tuesday
December
2021
Lecture / Seminar
Time: 11:30-12:30
Location: Nella and Leon Benoziyo Building for Biological Sciences
Lecturer: Prof. Orna Amster-Choder
Organizer: Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences
Contact: david.zeevi@weizmann.ac.il
Details: Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Genomics, The Hebrew University
Abstract: The poles of rod-shaped bacteria are emerging as a “microBrain”, serving as ... Read more The poles of rod-shaped bacteria are emerging as a “microBrain”, serving as hubs for sensing and regulation. Not only do they contain specific proteins, but we have shown that they contain a unique RNA population, which includes most small regulatory RNAs (sRNA). Upon stress, most sRNAs massively accumulate at the poles with the RNA chaperone Hfq. We have recently provided a proof-of-concept for the existence of a polygenic plan for sRNA-mediated regulation, with the poles providing an arena for its implementation. In my talk, I will show that the mechanism underlying this plan is assembly of Hfq with polar condensates, which a new pole-localizer, TmaR, forms by liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). I will further show that this LLPS-driven membraneless polar organelle serves as a hub for regulating various bacterial survival strategies.
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