Feb 10, 2025  |  4:10pm - 5:00pm

Colloquium Series: Dr. Lydia Freddolino, University of Michigan

Type
Molecular Genetics Seminar Series

Molecular Genetics Colloquium Series: University College, Rm. UC 161

Mondays: Seminar, 4:10pm-5 pm. Post-seminar Discussion 5-6 pm.

Date: Monday, February 10th, 2025

Dr. Lydia Freddolino, University of Michigan

Regulatory networks of bacteria using experimental and computational approaches

Host: Dr. Will Navarre

Abstract:

Contrary to several decades of dogma indicating that bacterial chromosomes are universally accessible to transcription, accumulating evidence in many bacterial taxa over the last several years have revealed the presence of a rich array of chromatin structures that regulate gene expression. Indeed, both at the levels of local structure and overall chromosomal architecture, we are now appreciating that bacteria show a richness of behavior in structuring and regulating their genomes rivaling that of eukaryotes; furthermore, many regulatory principles appear to be conserved across the tree of life even though they have different molecular implementations in different species. Bacterial chromatin structure -- and in particular, densely protein occupied heterochromatin-like regions -- appears to be especially important in the domestication and regulation of horizontally acquired genetic elements (HAEs). HAE-encoded genes are critical to bacterial evolution (including the spread of antibiotic resistance and virulence traits), but often contain poorly annotated genes, presenting unique challenges to our ability to understand both their regulation and the capabilities that they bring to the organisms containing them. I will outline recent progress both in understanding the regulation of HAEs in bacteria at the level of chromatin structure, and using deep-learning approaches to predict the biological functions of the genes that they contain.