Dact2 is expressed in the developing ureteric bud/collecting duct system of the kidney and controls morphogenetic behavior of collecting duct cells.

The overall pattern of the developing kidney is set in large part by the developing ureteric bud/collecting duct system, and dysgenesis of this system accounts for a variety of clinically significant renal diseases. Understanding how the behavior of cells in the developing ureteric bud/collecting duct is controlled is therefore important to understanding the normal and abnormal kidney. Dact proteins have recently been identified as cytoplasmic regulators of intracellular signaling.

Reconstruction of C(3) and C(4) metabolism in Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 using transposon mutagenesis.

The growth of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 on C(1) compounds has been well-studied, but little is known about how this methylotroph grows on multicarbon compounds. A Tn5 transposon mutagenesis procedure was performed to identify genes involved in the growth of M. extorquens AM1 on succinate and pyruvate.