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Christine Jacobs-Wagner

Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics & Development; Microbiology

Maxine Singer Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology

Education

M.S. University of Liege, Belgium 1991
Ph.D. University of Liege, Belgium 1996

Research Interests

Our research program focuses on two main areas: 1) Cell cycle regulation and cellular differentiation using the prokaryote Caulobacter crescentus as a model system. A hallmark of Caulobacter cell cycle is the expression of asymmetry in the predivisional cell that yields two distinct daughter cells at every division. Strikingly, we discovered that several essential signal transduction proteins change their cellular location in a cell cycle-dependent fashion. Using a combination of microscopy, genetic, and genomic approaches, we are investigating the significance and the temporal and spatial mechanisms of protein localization. 2) Bacterial cytoskeleton. In higher organisms, intermediate filaments, which constitute one of the three major components of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton, play an important role in cell shape. We have identified a bacterial equivalent to animal intermediate filament proteins whose cytoskeletal function is required for the vibrioid and helical shapes of Caulobacter. We are using biochemistry, genetics, and microscopy to study the bacterial cytoskeleton that supports cell shape.

Links

• Jacobs-Wagner Homepage

Recent Publications

• Lam, H., Schofield, W.B., and Jacobs-Wagner, C. (2006). A landmark protein essential for establishing and perpetuating the polarity of a bacterial cell. Cell 124:1011-23.
• Cabeen, M.T. and Jacobs-Wagner, C. (2005). Bacterial cell shape. Nature Rev. Microbiol. 3:601-10.

Contact

E-mail
christine.jacobs-wagner@yale.edu