Bistability in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Contributors: Hochschild, Ann; Wessels, Michael; Winston, Fred; Rietsch, Arne
Published: 2012
Language: eng
Description: The opportunistic pathogen P. aeruginosa is a leading cause of hospital-accquired infections, and is also the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). In this thesis, I describe the identification and characterization of a novel LysR-type transcription regulator (LTTR) of P. aeruginosa named BexR. I show that BexR exhibits reversible ON/OFF bistable expression, which leads to the bistable expression of several genes including one encoding a virulence factor. I present results suggesting that this bistable expression depends on positive feedback of BexR. This work illuminates the simplicity with which a transcription regulatory network can exhibit a complex behavior and generate phenotypic diversity in a clonal population.
Notes: Keywords: bexR, bistability, cupA, mexT, prrA, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Thesis Ph.D. Harvard University 2012