Sigal Ben-Yehuda

Department of Molecular Biology

Hadassah Medical School

POB 12272

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

911120

Jerusalem, Israel.

Tel: 2-675-8600

Fax: 02- 675-7197

sigalbe@md.huji.ac.il

01/11/2003-Present        Hebrew University (Jerusalem, Israel) -Senior Lecturer

01/1/2000- 31/10/2003   Harvard University (Cambridge MA, USA)-postdoc

PhD  6/2000                     Tel-Aviv University (Israel)   Yeast Genetics

M. Sc 10/94                      Tel-Aviv University (Israel)   Yeast Genetics

B. Sc 10/92                       Tel-Aviv University (Israel)   Biology

Research Interest

My research employs the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis as an experimental model system to study the generation of asymmetry during development. Triggered by nutrient limitation, B.subtilis enters a pathway of differentiation that culminates in the formation of a dormant stress-resistant cell-type called a spore. Entry into sporulation involves the remodeling of the sister chromosomes into an axial filament structure and the formation of an asymmetrically positioned septum, which divides the developing cell unequally into forespore (the smaller cell) and mother cell compartments. My primary research goal is to understand the chain of events that are required for the establishment of asymmetric cell division. I am interested in exploring: How is asymmetry generated and how is it exploited? How does septum position switch from the cell middle to the pole? How is the DNA architecture changed during development and how is it linked to polar division?

List of Publications

*Ben-Yehuda, S., and Losick, R. (2002). Asymmetric cell division in B. subtilis involves a spiral-like intermediate of the cytokinetic protein FtsZ. Cell 109: 257-266. 

Ben-Yehuda, S., Rudner, D.Z., and Losick, R. (2003). RacA, a bacterial protein that anchors chromosomes to the cell poles. Science  532-536. Epub 2002 Dec 19.

Ben-Yehuda, S., Rudner, D. Z., and Losick, R. (2003). Assembly of the SpoIIIE DNA translocase depends on chromosome trapping in Bacillus subtilis. Current Biol. 13: 2196-2200.

*See also previews:

Lutkenhous, J. 2002. Unexpected twist to the Z ring. Developmental Cell 2: 519-521.

Margolin, W. 2002. Bacterial sporulation: FtsZ rings do the twist. Current Biol. 12: 391R-392R.