Dmitry Apel Memorial Seminar: Sigal Ben-Yehuda

The Dmitry Apel Memorial Seminar (est. 2013) is an annual seminar that honours the memory of Dr. Dmitry Apel, a PhD student in Dr. Erin Gaynor’s lab who passed away in 2013. The seminar and its speakers are sponsored by Dmitry's family - specifically his sister and mother, Dr. Sabrina Apel and Dr. Maryana Apel. The goal of this seminar is to continue sharing Dmitry’s love of pure science and the search for scientific knowledge for its own sake.

Bacterial nanotubes: Conduits for intercellular molecular trade

We have identified a mode of bacterial communication mediated by nanotubes that bridge neighboring cells. Utilizing Bacillus subtilis as a primary model organism, we demonstrate that nanotubes serve as conduits for intercellular exchange of cytoplasmic molecules, antibiotic resistance proteins, toxic proteins, and even non-conjugative plasmids, thus playing a central role in bacterial physiology and population dynamics. This seminar will focus on our recent data capturing nanotube dynamics in real time, including their emergence, and the establishment of an intercellular nanotube bridge.