Research Interests
Streptomyces are of special interest for two reasons. First, their morphological complexity is unique among bacteria. They grow vegetatively as multinucleoid hyphae (with striking resemblance to filamentous fungi) and, in response to nutrient deprivation, initiate a program of gene expression that results in the production of spores. Second, coincident with morphological development, they produce as natural products most of the antibiotic compounds used in human and animal health care. The properties of Streptomyces mutants blocked in the initiation of sporulation suggest a direct connection between carbon-source catabolite repression, activation of antibiotic biosynthesis, and morphological development. Our approach to the investigation of how these complex metabolic and developmental processes interact involves characterization of the regulatory mechanisms that control the transcriptional activity of genes involved in carbohydrate utilization; the global regulation of catabolite control; and the identification and characterization of mutants that affect, at once, morphological developmental antibiotic production, catabolite control, and cell-cell signaling.