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Michael Fogel,
B. A., Biology, I am studying chromosome dynamics and the mechanisms that control chromosome segregation in Vibrio cholerae. Even in well studied bacterial systems such as E. coli, the principles that govern chromosome segregation are poorly understood. V. cholerae posses two circular chromosomes and their temporal and spatial dynamics, as well as the mechanisms of segregation, are unknown. By inserting tandem repeats of binding sites for a DNA-binding protein into different loci around each chromosome it is possible to express the DNA-binding protein fused to GFP and form foci at specific locations on chromosomes of living cells that can be followed by fluorescent microscopy. Using this technique, I am attempting to understand the timing and coordination of segregation in V. cholerae. V. cholerae also contains a set of putative partitioning genes on each chromosome. Homologs of these proteins (ParA and ParB) comprise the partitioning system in low copy plasmids and have also been shown to be important for chromosome segregation in B. subtilis and C. crescentus. I have made mutations in these genes, shown their involvement in segregation in V. cholerae and am attempting to elucidate their roles. |
