SPP 2389:  Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity

• Subject Area: Medicine ; Biology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 461035046

The Priority Program SPP2389 aims at establishing the concept of bacteria as multicellular microorganisms that live at least transiently stable and highly organized in tissue-like populations that exhibit properties and physiological features that go beyond the single cell. This concept rests on two pillars: (i) The FORM, that is, the spatiotemporal positioning of phenotypically specialized cells in stable filaments or tissue-like aggregates. This form then provides a cellular framework for (ii) the emergence of unique and altogether multicellular FUNCTIONS that only occur and/or exclusively make sense in the multicellular context. Such a challenging endeavour will require establishing a tight and highly interactive network that brings together and coordinates a group of multidisciplinary professionals sharing a passion for the concept of bacterial multicellularity. This group of enthusiasts needs to be tightly coordinated in order to share the required technological expertise, discuss and compare concepts through organismic diversity and openly exchange knowledge and advances under the umbrella of one common platform. This priority program represents an unprecedented effort based on a high-level German network that will spearhead this topic in an internationally competitive manner. Under its umbrella, 20-30 groups of leading researchers in this field will work together and in parallel for the next years, focusing either on the Form or the emergent Function, in order to propel the field of bacterial multicellularity forward. Through such a highly coordinated and collaborative effort, a scientific network will form both at a national and international level. Consequently, the coordination and management of the initiative is a critical task to achieve this success. This proposal describes the corresponding measures required to reach this ambitious goal. It presents the strategy for this initiative to achieve success and, most importantly, will generate the proper framework to flourish research ideas and promote communication to a broader audience. In addition to all measures that aim at establishing a successful and internationally visible scientific network, four interest groups from within this network will specifically benefit from the customized support established within the SPP 2389. (i) PhD students, (ii) junior research group leaders and early-career scientists, (iii) parents of young children, and (iv) female scientists. The strategies presented in this proposal focus on the specific needs of the defined groups.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• International Connection: Israel, Netherlands, Switzerland

Projects

• Altruistic suicide in multicellular clusters of bacteria: causes and consequences (Applicants Grünberger, Alexander ;  Kost, Christian )
• Antibiotic tolerance of biofilms emerging from multicellular effects of antibiotic efflux (Applicants Allen, Rosalind ;  Schreiber, Frank )
• „Bacteriopolis – the Hidden Life of Microbes“ – A traveling exhibition on bacterial multicellularity – (Applicant Mascher, Thorsten )
• Ca2+ signaling in cyanobacteria multicellularity: unravelling the network of the Ca2+ sensor CSE (Applicant Selim, Khaled )
• Cannibalism in Bacillus subtilis colonies: Role of programmed cell death in shaping and functionalizing differentiated multicellular populations (Applicants Dreisewerd, Klaus ;  Mascher, Thorsten )
• Cause and consequences of multicellularity in Streptomyces (Applicant Tschowri, Natalia )
• Collective membrane potential dynamics in bacterial colonies (Applicant Maier, Berenike )
• Cooperative pathogenicity of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) within mucosa-attached microcolonies (Applicants Dupont, Ph.D., Aline ;  Saliba, Antoine-Emmanuel ;  Sauer, Markus )
• Coordination funds for the Priority Programm SPP 2389 „Emergent Functions of Bacterial Multicellularity“ (Applicant Mascher, Thorsten )
• Early Determinants of Heterocyst Differentiation in Multicellular Cyanobacteria (Applicants Backofen, Rolf ;  Hess, Wolfgang R. )
• Form-function relationships in the development of Bacillus subtilis fruiting bodies (Applicants Bischofs-Pfeifer, Ilka ;  Rohr, Karl )
• Function of Small basic protein (Sbp) in Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm matrix assembly: molecular mechanisms and spatio-temporal patterning. (Applicant Rohde, Holger )
• How do biofilms heal their wounds? (Applicants Chai, Ph.D., Liraz ;  Zaburdaev, Ph.D., Vasily )
• Large-scale extracellular matrix architecture and tissue-like morphogenesis as emerging properties of bacterial multicellularity (Applicant Hengge, Regine )
• Mechanisms underlying emergence of antibiotic tolerance of Vibrio cholerae biofilms (Applicants Drescher, Ph.D., Knut ;  Papenfort, Kai )
• Non-hereditary, contact-dependent molecular exchange as a prerequisite for bacterial multicellularity (Applicants Ben-Yehuda, Sigal ;  Macek, Boris )
• Quantifying the Link Between Architectural Integrity and Adaptive Potential in Developing Biofilms (Applicant Hallatschek, Oskar )
• Resolving bacterial collectives on the single-cell level with flow cytometry, cell sorting, and multi-omics data science - Z-PROJECT (Applicants Müller, Susann ;  Müller, Christian L. )
• Single-cell RNA sequencing of multicellular communities (Applicant Häußler, Susanne )
• The impact of Streptokinase on biofilm heterogeneity of group G streptococci (Applicants Lalk, Michael ;  Siemens, Nikolai )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Thorsten Mascher