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Prof. Khaled A. Selim, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf: Being lazy is not always bad: Cyclic di-AMP signaling in cyanobacteria

Speaker Series. Abstract: Because of their photosynthesis-dependent lifestyle, cyanobacteria evolved sophisticated regulatory mechanisms to adapt to oscillating day-night metabolic changes. How they coordinate the metabolic switch between autotrophic and glycogen-catabolic metabolism in light and darkness is poorly understood. Recently, we discovered that the second messenger c-di-AMP is implicated in diurnal regulation. The carbon-sensor protein SbtB was identified as a major c-di-AMP receptor. Adding to its cellular functions catalog, for first time, we show also that c-di-AMP influences on nitrogen metabolism, implying new cellular roles for c-di-AMP. Additionally, we found that the cyanobacterial pilus biogenesis and natural competence are regulated by c-di-AMP/c-di-GMP and showed that the ComFB signaling protein is a novel c-di-NMP-receptor protein, widespread in bacterial phyla, and required for DNA uptake.

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