Topic 4: Adaptive decision-making in budding yeast
The ability of organisms to memorize and use information about their environment to adapt their life strategies gives them an important survival advantage. Yet, we still know little about how cells acquire, process and memorize circumstantial information, from unicellular organisms to neurons.
Our Lab studies the decision-making mechanisms yeast cells use to acquire, process and predict information about their past, present and future environments. We also explore how these processes are affected by, and possibly affect, cellular ageing.
(Left) a-Mating type yeast cells exposed to the pheromone of opposite mating type (alpha Factor) get arrested in G1 phase of the cell cycle and grow a mating projection (“shmoo”) towards a potential mating partner. Failing to find the partner, they escape shmooing and enter a pheromone refractory state in which they divide even in the presence of the pheromone. In other words, yeast cells “memorize” unsuccessful mating attempts. Such “memory” is maintained for the rest of the cell’s lifespan but not inherited by its daughters.
(Right) Formation of amyloid aggregates by poly-glutamine prion-like domain of Whi3 protein (Whi3polyQ) is a mechanism required for the establishment of the acquired pheromone refractory state in S. cerevisiae cells. In vitro synthesized peptide of Whi3polyQ domain forms fibers, that are similar to other amyloid peptides. This work has been done in collaboration with the lab of Prof. Donald Hilvert at ETHZ.
Contact
Deputy head of Institute of Biochemistry (IBC)
Institut für Biochemie
Otto-Stern-Weg 3
8093
Zürich
Switzerland
