Project Proposal: Variability between daughter E. coli cells using fluorescence imaging of the
nucleoids
Student: Omer Goldberg
Advisor: Prof. Mario Feingold
Abstract: In the division of bacterial cells the similarity between consecutive generations is
determined both by the genetic pathway and by epigenetics, whereby the mother cells
distributes its materials between its daughters. For genetically identical cells, we can
investigate the epigenetic component by studying the asymmetry of the distribution of
biomaterials between the two daughter cells. This asymmetry can be due to either proteins
that freely diffuse between the daughter cells before the division is completed, mostly
cytoplasmic proteins, or due to those that anchored to either the cell membrane or its DNA.
To distinguish between the epigenetic effect of the diffusing and non-diffusing proteins we
will compare E. coli cells that divide normally with E. coli cells in which division is inhibited by
means of cephalexin leading to long filaments. For these two cases, we will focus on the
variability between the nucleoids, namely, on the differences in the distributions of DNA in
each of the two daughter cells. In particular, we will use fluorescence imaging of the
nucleoid together with phase contrast imaging of the cell morphology to characterize the
daughter cells and quantify the differences between them.