Epigenetic switching: bacteria hedge bets about staying or moving.
Growing populations of Bacillus subtilis exhibit bistability: motile cells co-exist with long chains of sessile cells. An epigenetic switch has been characterized that controls the transition between the two cell types.
Piggot
Patrick
P
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Temple University School of Medicine, 3400 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA. piggotp@temple.edu
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial