Origins and consequences of partitioning in bacteria

Binary fission of rod-shaped bacteria results in virtually identical sibling cells, which consist of the same genetic makeup. Despite of being extremely similar, such clonal sibling cells can differ from each other phenotypically and consequently display distinct behaviors. Unequal or biased partitioning of cellular constituents at cell division is one non-exclusive, yet little understood mechanism that can generate such phenotypic heterogeneity.  I will show how directional inheritance of cell structures leads to non-random variability in basic traits such as cell size or live span. My recent work focuses on partitioning of multi-drug efflux pumps in Escherichia coli, which are large trans-membrane- and trans-envelope protein structures. Here, biased partitioning results in different degrees of antibiotic tolerance in individual cell lineages. I will furthermore show some current work that investigates the role of cell wall structure in efflux pump partitioning, and how translation of trans-membrane proteins is structured at the subcellular level.

Host: Prof Rosalind Allen