RICHARD M. LOSICK Harvard College Professor & Maria Moors Cabot Professor of Biology Email: losick@mcb.harvard.edu Phone: (617) 495-4905 Mail: 16 Divinity Ave, Room 3023, Cambridge MA, 02138 Losick Lab Homepage Members of the Losick Lab List of Publications from PubMed

Research:

Our laboratory studies development in the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis. B. subtilis undergoes an elaborate cycle of cellular differentiation that culminates in the formation of a dormant cell type, the spore. Spore formation involves the transformation of a vegetative cell into a two-compartment sporangium by asymmetric division. The compartments receive an identical chromosome yet have dissimilar developmental fates involving differential expression of distinct sets of genes. We seek to elucidate the entire regulatory circuit that governs entry into sporulation, cell-specific gene expression, and the linkage of gene expression to landmark events in morphogenesis. Other topics of interest are protein subcellular localization, chromosome segregation, intercellular signaling, and the formation of architecturally complex communities of cells.

Selected Publications:

Steven S. Branda, Jose Eduardo Gonzalez-Pastor, Sigal Ben-Yehuda, Richard Losick, and Roberto Kolter. Fruiting body formation by Bacillus subtilis. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA. 98:12621-11626 (2001)

Jonathan Dworkin and Richard Losick. Differential Gene Expression Governed by Chromosomal Spatial Asymmetry. Cell. 107:339-346, (2001).

Gehring, Amy M., Yoo, Narie J., Losick, Richard. RNA Polymerase Sigma Factor That Blocks Morphological Differentiation by Streptomyces coelicolar. J. Bacteriol, 183:20 5991-5996 (2001)

Ben-Yehuda, S. and Losick, R. Asymmetric Cell Division in B. subtilis Involves a Spiral-like Intermediate of the Cytokinetic Protein FtsZ. Cell 109: 257-266 (2002).

Rudner, D. Z. and Losick, R. A sporulation membrane protein tethers the pro- s^K processing enzyme to its inhibitor and dictates its subcellular localization. Genes & Dev. 16: 1007-1018 (2002).

Gueiros-Filho, Frederico J. and Losick, R. A widely conserved bacterial cell division protein that promotes assembly of the tubulin-like protein FtsZ. Genes & Dev. 16: 2544-2556 (2002).

Dworkin, J. and Losick, R. Does RNA polymerase help drive chromosome segregation in bacteria? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 99: 14089-94 (2002).

Ben-Yehuda, S., Rudner, D. and Losick, R. RacA, a Bacterial Protein That Anchors Chromosomes to the Cell Poles. Science 299: 532-536 (2003).

Fujita, M. and Losick, R. The master regulator for entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis becomes a cell-specific transcription factor after asymmetric division. Genes & Development 17: 1166-1174 (2003).

Eichenberger, P., Jensen, S., E., Conlon, van Ooij, C., Silvaggi, J., Gonzalez-Pastor, J., Fujita, M., S., Ben-Yehuda, Stragier, P., Lie, J. and Losick, R. The s^E Regulon and the Identification of Additional Sporulation Genes in Bacillus subtilis. J. Mol. Biol. 327: 945-972 (2003).

Gonzalez-Pastor, J.E., Hobbs, E. C. and Losick, R. Cannibalism by Sporulating Bacteria. Science 301: 510-513 (2003).

Fujita, M. and Losick, R. Evidence that entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is governed by a gradual increase in the level and activity of the master regulator Spo0A. Genes & Development 19:2236:2244 (2005).

Kearns, D.B. and Losick R. Cell populations heterogeneity during growth of Bacillus subtilis. Genes & Development 19:3083-3094 (2005).

Chu, F., Kearns, D., Branda, S, Kolter, R., and Losick, R. Targets of the master regulator of biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis. Molec Microbiol 59:1216-1228 (2006).

Silvaggi, J., Perkins, J. and Losick, R. Genes for Small, Noncoding RNAs under Sporulation Control in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol 188:532-541 (2006).

Branda, S., Chu, F., Kearns, D., Losick, R., and Kolter, R. A major protein component of the Bacilllus subtilis biofilm matrix. Molec Microbiol 59:1229-1238 (2006).

Ellermeier, C.D., Hobbs, Errett C., Gonzalez-Pastor, J.E., Losick R. A Three-Protein Signaling Pathway Governing Immunity to a Bacterial Cannibalism Toxin. Cell 124:549-559 (2006).

Bassler, B.L. and Losick  R. “Bacterially Speaking”. Cell 125: 237-246 (2006)

Dubnau, D. and Losick R.  “Bistability in Bacteria”. Molecular Microbiology, in press (2006).

Wang, S.T., Setlow, B. Conlon, E.M., Lyon, J. L. Imamura, D. Sato, T. Setlow, P., Losick R. and Eichenberger, P. The Forespore Line of Gene Expression in Bacillus subtilis. Journal of Molecular Biology, 358:16-37 (2006).