Research the Literature on your Own (or suggested assignment)

• Compare and contrast the intercellular signaling pathways that connect ?F ? ?E and ?G ? ?K. (While an overview of the ?G ? ?K signaling pathway is given in the lecture, more details of both pathways will be needed to give a complete answer.)


• Recent research indicates that the ?E ? ?G pathway is not a conventional signal transduction pathway. Explain.


• Sporulating cells do not become committed to spore formation until they reach the stage of asymmetric division. What is developmental commitment and how would you demonstrate it experimentally?


• Under conditions that trigger sporulation, only some cells in the population begin sporulation. Remarkably, these early sporulating cells produce toxins that kill sibling cells that have not yet started to sporulate. This phenomenon is known as cannibalism. How does it work and why might it be a fitness advantage to kill one’s siblings?


• Compare and contrast the SpoIIIE DNA translocase with other motors that transport DNA across membranes, such as those involved in conjugation and competence.

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