Spatial Organization and Regulation of Bacterial Cellular Processes

项目摘要 细菌细胞，尽管它们的基因组相对较小，细胞质没有区隔，但表现出各种各样的 通过规范的生物化学相互作用在分子水平上调节的复杂细胞任务 在亚细胞水平上，通过分子的空间组织。我的实验室广泛地对 了解细菌细胞过程的分子成分是如何在空间上组织的，以及 这样一个组织所传达的基本职能。我们目前的研究重点是细菌细胞分裂， 以大肠杆菌为模式生物的转录和噬菌体-宿主相互作用。具体来说，我们将(1)确定 FtsZ‘s跑步机对隔细胞壁合成酶复合体FtsWI的空间协调调控 动态；(2)研究RNA聚合酶、必需转录因子和 染色体DNA及其相关功能；以及(3)探索染色体DNA的定位、动态和相互作用。 噬菌体裂解蛋白存在于细胞膜中。我们处于独特的地位，可以承担这些任务，因为我们拥有广泛的 在定量单分子成像和细菌细胞生物学方面的专业知识。我们期待我们的工作为我们提供新的 可用于开发治疗细菌感染的新策略的分子洞察力。

Project Summary Bacterial cells, despite their relatively small genomes and non-compartmentalized cytoplasm, perform a variety of complex cellular tasks that are regulated both at the molecular level through canonical biochemical interactions and at the subcellular level through the spatial organization of molecules. My laboratory is broadly interested in understanding how the molecular constituents of bacterial cellular processes are spatially organized and what essential functions such an organization conveys. Our current research focuses on bacterial cell division, transcription and phage-host interactions using E. coli as a model organism. Specifically, we will (1) determine the spatial coordination and regulation of the septal cell wall synthase complex FtsWI by FtsZ’s treadmilling dynamics; (2) investigate the spatial organizations of RNA polymerase, essential transcription factors and chromosomal DNAs and their associated functions; and (3) probe the localization, dynamics and interactions of phage lysis proteins in cell’s envelop. We are uniquely positioned to take on these tasks because of our extensive expertise in quantitative single molecule imaging and bacterial cell biology. We expect our work to provide new molecular insight that could be used to develop new strategies to treat bacterial infection.