Dresden 2009 – scientific programme

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 23: Physics of Bacteria and Viruses

BP 23.3: Talk

Thursday, March 26, 2009, 17:45–18:00, ZEU 260

Spatio-Temporal Protein Dynamics in Single Bacteria Cells on Chip — •Dominik Greif¹, Nataliya Pobigaylo², Anke Becker², Jan Regtmeier¹, and Dario Anselmetti¹ — ¹Experimental Biophysics & Applied Nanoscience, Bielefeld University, Germany — ²Genetics and Systems Biology of Prokaryotes, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany

Single cell microscopy of bacterial cells is very challenging due to their small size that differs considerably from eukaryotic cells. In order to investigate subcellular processes in microorganisms we recorded high resolution time lapse fluorescence images (TLFI) for monitoring the dynamics of proteins.
Exemplarily, we present observations of the intracellular protein GcrA as well as the asymmetric localization of the protein DivK in daughter cells of S.meliloti over at least two cell divisions. GcrA is a master transcriptional regulator that activates expression of genes participating in DNA replication progression and chromosome partitioning. DivK is part of the phosphorelay system which causes up-regulated expression for proteins required in DNA methylation, septum formation, flagellar synthesis, and chemotaxis. Methodically, a high numerical aperture optical setup with a sensitive CCD camera and a poly(dimethysiloxane) (PDMS) microfluidic chip, assuring a very good cell viability, was used. For cell immobilization a concentration gradient of polyethyleneimine (PEI) was used. Our approach allows new insight in the control of the bacterial cell cycle in individual cells towards a better understanding of cell proliferation and differentiation.