14 Jan Anabaena -- Pattern formation

The multicellular cyanobacterium Anabaena differentiates specialized cells at regularly space intervals, perhaps nature's simplest case of patterned development.

21 Jan Myxococcus xanthus -- Social development

The soil bacterium Myxococcus xanthus live as a pack, hunting for prey, and die as a pack, sacrificing themselves so that a few can survive as spores.

28 Jan Caulobacter crescentus -- Cell cycle control

The marine bacterium Caulobacter crescentus ties has a sedentary phase and a motile phase, and the clock that times the required morphological changes is tied somehow to the events of a complex cell cycle.

4 Feb Bacillus subtilis -- Temporal program

Sporulation by Bacillus subtilis in response to nutrient deprivation is directed by a complex program of genes turning on or off at precise times and precise locations, constituting the world's best understood example of cellular differentiation.

11 Feb Dependence on DNA replication

18 Feb Dependence on DNA replication

25 Feb Cascade of sigma factors

4 Mar Cascade of sigma factors

11 Mar ======== MIDTERM BREAK ========

18 Mar Integration of signals

25 Mar Integration of signals

1 Apr Master signals

8 Apr Master signals

15 Apr Signal molecules

22 Apr Signal molecules