The long-term objective of this program is to understand the mechanisms responsible for formation of the bacterial division site, and for the correlation of division site localization and septum formation with the equipartition of progeny chromosomes into the two daughter cells. To approach these objectives, we have the following specific aims for the proposed grant period. 1. To describe the developmental history of the E.coli cell division site by characterizing cell division mutants that are blocked at intermediate stages of the developmental pathway, prior to the onset of septal invagination. 2. To identify proteins that are associated with periseptal annuli and other zones of adhesion by using chemical crosslinking and immunolocalization methods. 3. To identify the membrane components that are responsible for the specific binding of oriC to the cell envelope, and to define the relation of chromosome replication and segregation to the genesis and localization of new division sites. 4. To determine whether the residual division sites that are present at the cell poles play a role in the generation of future division sites within the cell.
