Faculty & Research
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Jonathan Dworkin, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology Ph.D., Rockefeller University Phone: 212-342-3731 Fax: 212-305-1468 Email: jed2113@columbia.edu |
Research
We are interested in how dormant cells of various bacteria (B. subtilis, M. tuberculosis, and M. luteus) re-initiate growth and we have identified a well-conserved, eukaryotic-like Ser/Thr kinase that is essential for these bacteria to exit dormancy in response to muropeptides generated by growing bacteria. A target of this kinase is Elongation Factor G (EF-G), the essential GTPase regulating translation, and we are examining how this phosphorylation changes the activity of this protein. In addition, we are examining the role of this kinase in antibiotic resistance and survival during stationary phase in B. subtilis, M. luteus and S. aureus.
The lab is also interested in peptidoglycan synthesis and we are focusing on two issues. First, we would like to understand how the peptidoglycan precursor (Lipid II) gets translocated across the cytoplasmic membrane, and we have developed several novel biochemical assays to get at this mechanism. Second, we are interested in interactions between proteins involved in peptidoglycan biosynthesis and how they are targeted to different locations in the cell, depending on the growth phase of the cell.
Recent and Notable Articles
- Shah, I.M. and Dworkin J. (2010) Induction and regulation of a secreted peptidoglycan hydrolase by a membrane Ser/Thr kinase that detects muropeptides. Mol. Micro, in press (published online in advance of print).
- Fay, A. and Dworkin J. (2009) B. subtilis homologs of the putative Lipid II flippase E. coli MurJ (MviN) are not essential. J. Bacteriol. 191: 6020-6028. (Cited by Faculty of 1000)
- Eldar, A., Chary, V., Xenopoulos, P., Fontes, M.E., Loson, O.C., Dworkin, J., Piggot, P. and Elowitz M. (2009) Partial penetrance facilitates developmental evolution in bacteria. Nature, 460: 510-515.
- Dworkin, J. (2009) Cellular polarity in prokaryotic organisms. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 1: a003368.
- Shah, I., and Dworkin J. (2009) Dispatch: Bacteria talk to (some) of their neighbors. Current Biology, 19: R689-691.
- Shah, I.M., Laaberki, M-H, Popham, D.L. Dworkin, J. (2008) A eukaryotic-like Ser/Thr kinase signals bacteria to exit dormancy in response to peptidoglycan fragments. Cell, 135: 486-497.
- Laaberki, M-H. and Dworkin, J. (2008) The role of spore coat proteins in the resistance of B. subtilis spores to C. elegans predation. J. Bact., 190: 6197-6204.
- Laaberki, M-H. and Dworkin, J. (2008) Death and survival of spore-forming bacteria in the Caenorhabditis elegans intestine. Symbiosis, 46: 195-200.
- Real, G., Fay, A., Eldar, A., Pinto, S.M., Henriques, A.O. and Dworkin, J. (2008) Determinants for the subcellular localization and function of a non-essential SEDS protein. J. Bact., 190: 363-376.
- Suel, G., Kulkarni, R.P., Dworkin, J., Garcia-Ojalvo, J. and Elowitz, M. (2007) Tunability and noise dependence in differentiation dynamics. Science, 315: 316-9.
- Meyer, P. and Dworkin, J. (2007) Applications of fluorescence microscopy to single bacterial cells. Res. Microbio.,158: 187-194.
- Dworkin, J. and Losick, R. (2005) Developmental committment in a bacterium. Cell, 121, 401–409.
- Dworkin J. (2003) Transient genetic asymmetry and cell fate in a bacterium. Trends in Genetics 2003, 19: 107-112.
- Dworkin J. and Losick R. (2002) Does RNA polymerase help drive chromosome segregation in bacteria? Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 99: 14089-14094.
- Dworkin J. and Losick R. (2001) Differential gene expression governed by chromosomal spatial asymmetry. Cell, 107: 339-346.
- Dworkin J. and Losick R. (2001) Linking nutritional status to gene activation and development. Genes Dev, 15: 1051-5.