Amy H. Camp, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Dept. of Biological Sciences
111 Research Drive, B217
Office - D208
Lab - C212
Bethlehem, PA 18015

phone: 610-758-3079
fax: 610-758-4004

amh210@lehigh.edu

Sporulating Bacillus subtilis cells visualized by fluorescence microcsopy.  The outer mother cell membrane is stained red and the engulfed forespores are stained green.

Upon nutrient starvation, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis transforms itself into a metabolically dormant spore. This primitive developmental process involves two sister cells, only one of which becomes a spore.

The Camp Lab eavesdrops on these two developing cells to discover the elegant and unexpected ways that they communicate and control gene expression.

Project 1
Dissect the structure and function of a “feeding tube” that connects the two sporulating cells.

Project 2
Examine how “switches” in gene expression occur within an individual sporulating cell.

 

Recent Publications:

Camp AH, Wang AF, and Losick R. (2011) A small protein required for the switch from σ^F to σ^G during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol 193: 116-124.

*Camp AH and Losick R. (2009) A feeding tube model for activation of a cell-specific transcription factor during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Genes Dev 23: 1014-1024.

*Camp AH and Losick R. (2008) A novel pathway of intercellular signaling in Bacillus subtilis involves a protein with similarity to a component of type III secretion channels. Mol Microbiol 69: 402-417.

*Work from Camp and Losick (2008) and (2009) was featured in the following “Dispatch”:

Kroos L. (2009) Bacterial development: Evidence for very short umbilical cords. Curr Biol 19: R452-R453.

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