Penelope Higgs
Dr. Penelope I. Higgs
MPI für terrestrische Mikrobiologie
Karl-von-Frisch-Straße
D-35043 Marburg / Germany
Phone: +49 6421 178-301
Fax: +49 6421 178-309
Email: higgs@mpi-marburg.mpg.de
Research group members
Group leader: Dr. Penelope I. Higgs
Graduate students: Vidhi Grover, Bongsoo Lee, Xiaowei Mei, Andreas Schramm
Undergraduate students: Tharshika Jeganathan, Christian Wolfgang Schink
Technical assistant: Petra Mann
Dr. Penelope I. Higgs
Curriculum Vitae
Penelope Ilsa Higgs (born 1968)
B.S. (Microbiology) Washington State University, USA, 1994)
Ph.D. (Microbiology) Washington State University, USA, 2001)
Post-doc (Molecular and Cell Biology), University of California, Berkeley, USA, 2001-2005
Group Leader at the Department of Ecophysiology, MPI Marburg, since 08/2005
Research Area: Signal transduction and regulation of developmental progression in Myxococcus xanthus
M. xanthus is a bacterium that exhibits a social (multicellular) life cycle. Under nutrient-limiting conditions, a complex developmental program is induced wherein cells first aggregate into mounds of approximately 100 000 cells and then, within these mounds, differentiate into spores forming fruiting bodies. These processes are tightly controlled by a series of temporally regulated extracellular and intracellular signals that must be coordinated and integrated to ensure proper fruiting body formation and sporulation efficiency.
More about "Signal transduction and regulation of developmental progression in Myxococcus xanthus"
Recent publications
Jagadeesan S, Mann P, Schink CW, Higgs PI. (2009> A novel "four-component" two-component signal transduction mechanism regulates developmental progression in Myxococcus xanthus.J Biol Chem. 2009 284(32):21435-45.
Higgs, P. I., Merlie, J. P., Jr. (2008) Myxococcus xanthus: Cultivation, Motility, and Development. In Myxobacteria: Multicellularity and Differentiation. Whitworth, D. (ed). ASM Press, Washington D. C.
Emily A. Stein, Kyungyun Cho, Penelope I. Higgs and David R. Zusman (2006) Two Ser/Thr protein kinases essential for efficient aggregation and spore morphogenesis in Myxococcus xanthus. Molecular Microbiology 60(6), 1414–1431
Lee, B., Higgs, P.I., Zusman, D.R., and K. Cho. EspC is involved in controlling the timing of development in Myxococcus xanthus. (2005) J. Bacteriol.. 187:5029-31.