Elucidating the function of GufA during growth and development of Caulobacter crescentus.

Abstract

Caulobacter cresentus, a Gram-negative bacterium belonging to the class alphaproteobacteria, is found mostly in oligotrophic aquatic environments. It has a distinct cell cycle pattern that is also coupled to a developmental transition, giving rise to two types of progeny owing to its asymmetric cell division. Based on this uniqueness it serves as an important model organism for studying cell cycle regulation, asymmetric cell division, as well as cell differentiation. Studies on Caulobacter has helped to address the fundamental mechanistic details of cellular organization and developmental processes in bacteria. A number of regulatory elements work in concert to drive the overall growth and development in a coordinated manner. Many such functions of genes and network has been worked out, while still lot more is unknown or just in the preliminary stages of findings. One such gene is gufA. This hypothetical gene is yet uncharacterized but preliminary findings had demonstrated that overexpression of gufA induces cell filamentation and loss of viability in Caulobacter cells. Interestingly gufA has been found to have homologous counterparts across various species, for instance, mgsA in E. coli, mgs1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and wrnip1 in Homo sapiens. These homologs are evolutionarily conserved ATPases and are members of the AAA+ (ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities) family of proteins. The broad aim of the project is to understand the role of the uncharacterized gene gufA in regulating the developmental cycle of Caulobacter crescentus. This work is towards gaining insights into the role of gufA in regulating cell cycle and developmental processes of Caulobacter.