Prokaryotic cells develop cell polarity, exhibit time-dependent gradients of protein concentration, can divide with astonishingly high precision at midcell, and exhibit precise control over the spatial position of genetic loci in the cell. Loss of this ultra-structure has important functional consequences, from the failure to efficiently segregate the chromosome to the creation of anucleate minicells. To investigate such questions, quantitative measurements are essential, but not sufficient. Models that attempt to explain these inherently quantitative phenomena must make testable, quantitative predictions. This research program is divided into two main aims: (i) a program to quantitatively characterize, analyze and model these organizational phenomena at a proteome scale in Escherichia coli and (ii) a tightly focused program to investigate one important instance of cellular ultra-structure: the mechanisms responsible for chromosome organization and segregation in E. coli. Broader Impacts In addition to the training of graduate students, this research program supports the development of two new, truly interdisciplinary courses for undergraduate and graduate students with diverse backgrounds from molecular and cellular biology to theoretical physics: Contemporary Light Microscopy and Biophotonics and Quantitative Imaging. Both courses are hands-on problem-oriented lab lecture courses inspired by the Marine Biology Laboratory (MBL) Physiology Course. In addition, a third course, a short quantitative imaging boot camp for the biologists is offered yearly. The research program supports an outreach program to bring science into the high school classroom and high school research interns into the lab.
