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Measuring Individual Cell Cyclic di-GMP: Identifying Population Diversity and Cyclic di-GMP Heterogeneity

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Microbial Cyclic Di-Nucleotide Signaling

Abstract

Cyclic di-GMP is a second messenger used by bacteria to regulate motility, extracellular polysaccharide production, and the cell cycle. Recent advances in the measurement of real time cyclic di-GMP levels in single cells have uncovered significant dynamic heterogeneity of second messenger concentrations within bacterial populations. This heterogeneity results in a wide range of phenotypic outcomes within a single population, providing the potential for population survival and adaptability in response to rapidly changing environments. In this chapter, we discuss some of the measurement technologies available for single-cell measurement of cyclic di-GMP concentrations, the resulting discovery of heterogeneous cyclic di-GMP populations, the mechanisms bacteria use to generate this heterogeneity, and the biochemical and functional consequences of heterogeneity on cyclic di-GMP effector binding and the bacterial population.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Microbiology and Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Samuel I. Miller

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Erik Petersen

  3. Department of Health Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA

    Erik Petersen

Authors
  1. Samuel I. Miller
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Correspondence to Samuel I. Miller .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biochemistry and Agricultural Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan

    Shan-Ho Chou

  2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Nicolas Guiliani

  3. Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Vincent T. Lee

  4. Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ute Römling

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Miller, S.I., Petersen, E. (2020). Measuring Individual Cell Cyclic di-GMP: Identifying Population Diversity and Cyclic di-GMP Heterogeneity. In: Chou, SH., Guiliani, N., Lee, V., Römling, U. (eds) Microbial Cyclic Di-Nucleotide Signaling. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33308-9_12

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