Dresden 2006 – scientific programme
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AKB: Biologische Physik
AKB 40: Poster Session II
AKB 40.58: Poster
Wednesday, March 29, 2006, 16:30–19:30, P3
DNA transport during bacterial transformation — •Madeleine Leisner1, Martin Clausen2, Irena Draskovic3, Dave Dubnau3, and Berenike Maier2 — 1LMU, Department für Physik, LS Rädler, Munic, Germany — 2Institut üfr allgemeine Zoologie und Genetik, Westfälische Wilhelmsuniversität, Münster, Germany — 3Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, USA
Bacteria employ a variety of molecular motors near the cell envelope to move and communicate with their environment. We are particularly interested in the molecular machines that transport DNA through the bacterial envelope during transformation. Bacteria can acquire genetic diversity by horizontal gene transfer. Many bacteria are naturally competent for uptake of naked DNA from the environment in a process called transformation. Recently, we used optical tweezers to demonstrate that the DNA transport machinery in Bacillus subtilis is a force generating motor, that processively transports macromolecular DNA through nanopores. Currently, we are investigating how the concentration of the single strand binding protein YwpH affects DNA transport properties and transformation efficieny.