Erin Goley
725 N. Wolfe Street
520 WBSB
Baltimore MD 21205
Our laboratory aims to elucidate the mechanisms bacteria use to grow and divide, and to sense and adapt to their environment. We have a particular interest in the regulation and execution of cell biological processes in time and space, including morphogenesis, cytokinesis, chromosome segregation, envelope biogenesis, cell polarity and other cell cycle events. We study these events in two Gram-negative bacteria: the free-living, dimorphic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus and the obligate intracellular, tick-borne pathogen Rickettsia parkeri. In the case of Rickettsia, we are also motivated to understand how the cell biology of the pathogen promotes its interactions with the tick vector and mammalian host. We are highly collaborative, and take a multi-faceted approach to address these questions, combining bacterial genetics, genomics, microscopy, biochemistry, and in vitro reconstitution to obtain a comprehensive mechanistic view of bacterial growth in different environments.
Link to Complete List of Publications (opens in a new tab)
Selected Publications
Mahone CR, Goley ED (2020) Bacterial cell division at a glance. J Cell Sci. 8: 133. [Review]
Woldemeskel SA, Daitch AK, Alvarez L, Panis G, Zeinert R, Gonzalez D, Smith E, Collier J, Chien P, Cava F, Viollier PH, Goley ED (2020). The conserved transcriptional regulator CdnL is required for metabolic homeostasis and morphogenesis in Caulobacter. PLoS Genetics. 16: e1008591
Barrows JM, Sundararajan K, Bhargava A, Goley ED. (2020) FtsA regulates Z-ring morphology and cell wall metabolism in an FtsZ C-terminal linker dependent manner in Caulobacter crescentus. J Bacteriol. 202: e00693-19
Lariviere PJ, Mahone CR, Santiago-Collazo G, Howell M, Daitch AK, Zeinert R, Chien P, Brown PJB, Goley ED. (2019) An essential regulator of bacterial division links FtsZ to cell wall synthase activation. Curr Biol. 29:1460-1470.
Sundararajan K, Vecchiarelli AV, Mizuuchi K, Goley ED (2018) Species- and C-terminal linker-dependent variations in the dynamic behavior of FtsZ on membranes in vitro. Mol Microbiol. 110:47-63.
Lariviere PJ, Szwedziak P, Mahone CR, Löwe J, Goley ED (2018) FzlA, an essential regulator of FtsZ filament curvature, controls constriction rate during Caulobacter division. Mol Microbiol. 107:180-197
Sundararajan K, Goley ED (2017) The intrinsically disordered C-terminal linker of FtsZ regulates protofilament dynamics and superstructure in vitro. J Biol Chem. 292:20509-20527
Meier EL, Daitch AK, Yao Q, Bhargava A, Jensen GJ, Goley ED (2017) FtsEX-mediated regulation the final stages of division reveals morphogenetic plasticity in Caulobacter crescentus. PLoS Genetics. 13:e1006999
Woldemeskel SA, McQuillen R, Hessel AM, Xiao J, Goley ED (2017) A conserved coiled-coil pair focuses the cytokinetic Z-ring in Caulobacter crescentus. Mol Microbiol. 105:721-740
Sundararajan K and Goley ED (2017) Cytoskeletal proteins in Caulobacter crescentus: spatial orchestrators of cell cycle progression, development, and cell shape. Subcell Biochem. 84:103-137 [Book Chapter]
Woldemeskel SA and Goley ED (2017) Shapeshifting to survive: shape determination and regulation in Caulobacter crescentus. Trends Microbiol. 25:673-687 [Review]
Xiao J and Goley ED (2016) Redefining the roles of the FtsZ-ring in bacterial cytokinesis. Curr Opin Microbiol. 34:90-96 [Review]
Meier EL, Razavi S, Inoue T, Goley ED (2016) A novel membrane anchor for FtsZ in linked to cell wall hydrolysis in Caulobacter crescentus. Mol Microbiol. 101: 265-280.
Sundararajan K, Miguel A, Desmarais SM, Meier EL, Huang KC, and Goley ED (2015) The bacterial tubulin FtsZ requires its intrinsically disordered linker to direct robust cell wall construction. Nat Commun. 6:7281.