THE CONTROL OF SPATIAL-ORGANIZATION DURING CELLULAR-DIFFERENTIATION

Caulobacter crescentus is a dimorphic bacterium that yields two distin ct cell types with every cell division, a motile swarmer cell and a se ssile stalked cell. Caulobacter, therefore, possesses a simple develop mental program and is used as an model system to determine basic mecha nisms of cellular morphogenesis. The generation of the asymmetric pred ivisional cell requires the temporal expression of many genes as well as the precise intracellular positioning of these gene products. Analy sis of the biogenesis and positioning of cell type-specific genes and proteins has been instrumental in understanding the underlying princip les as to how asymmetry in the predivisional cell is generated, This m anuscript explores our current understanding of the mechanisms by whic h Caulobacter differentiation is achieved.