Virus Interactions Inside the Cell: Competition or Cooperation?
| Date/Time: | Monday, 09 Oct 2017 from 4:10 pm to 5:00 pm |
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| Location: | Phys 0003 |
| Phone: | 515-294-5441 |
| Channel: | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
Abstract: Living cells make fate-determining decisions based on signals from their environment. Understanding the decision making process is essential for unveiling the mysteries of life and for improving human health. I will discuss our recent studies of a paradigmatic system of cell-fate determination, the bacterium E. coli and its virus - phage lambda, using a live-cell 4-color system combined with computational modeling at the single-virus/single-virus-DNA resolution. The textbook picture is: upon infection by phage lambda, E. coli undergoes one of two alternate pathways - lytic (virulent) or lysogenic (dormant). With the high-resolution studies, this paradigmatic system has been revealed to be more complicated than previously thought. Our studies suggest that individual phages vote and interact within the cell: they cooperate during lysognization, compete among each other during lysis, and confusion or coexistence between the two pathways occasionally occurs. I will also discuss the sources/mechanisms for phages to make different decisions and utilize variable strategies for their development.
Bio: Lanying Zeng is an Assistant Professor in the Dept of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Center for Phage Technology at A&M University. He received his PhD in theoretical and applied mechanics with a minor in computer science and engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; his M.E. in fluid mechanics from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and his B.E. in Aerodynamics from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He is recipient of the Mountain Memorial Fund Scholarship, Society for General Physiology and Walter L. Wilson Endowed Scholarship Fund for Physiology Summer Court, Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts, and the Thomas J. Dolan Graduate Award from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.