About

Gustavo Pesce, Ph.D. Investigator Email: gpescemolsci.org Tel: 510-981-8701

I am interested in understanding cellular behavior at the individual cell level. The goal of my research is to uncover generalizable principles that enable individual cells to maintain homeostasis of internal components, transmit accurate information about internal and external changes and generate stereotypical responses.

In one line of research I seek to uncover conserved mechanisms that control the precise level of a transmitted signal in individual cells. I focus on a well-known signaling system, the response of yeast cells to mating pheromone. I used single-cell fluorescent reporters to identify mutants with increases and decreases in variability and, in many cases, no changes in average output. I am currently characterizing their mode of action and their genetic interactions.

In a second project, done in collaboration with VTT, Finland, I seek to develop generalizable, single-cell control systems applicable to the production of bio-based chemicals in yeast. We focus on the production of xylonic acid by yeast cells expressing xylose dehydrogenase from Caulobacter crescentus. During xylonic acid synthesis the cytosol of a fraction of the engineered yeasts becomes acidic and the cell eventually dies. This acidification followed by death eventually affects all the cells in the culture. We are using single cell reporters to identify cellular responses that mark the beginning of the acidification process. We plan to engineer control circuits to adjust the activity of xylose dehydrogenase to each cell 's individual tolerance levels.

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