Effect of Antimicrobial Agents on MinD Protein Oscillations in E. coli Bacterial Cells

The pole-to-pole oscillation of the MinD proteins in E. coli determines the location of the division septum, and is integral to healthy cell division. It has been shown previously that the MinD oscillation period is approximately 40 s for healthy cells [1] but is strongly dependant on environmental factors such as temperature, which may place stress on the cell [2,3]. We use a strain of E. coli in which the MinD proteins are tagged with green fluorescent protein (GFP), allowing fluorescence visualization of the MinD oscillation. We use high resolution total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to observe the effect of exposure to antimicrobial agents on the MinD oscillation period and, more generally, to analyze the time variation of the spatial distribution of the MinD proteins within the cells. These measurements provide insight into the mechanism of antimicrobial action. \\[4pt] [1] Raskin, D.M.; de Boer, P. (1999) Proc Natl. Acad. Sci. 96: 4971-4976.\\[0pt] [2] Colville, K.; Tompkins, N.; Rutenberg, A. D.; Jericho, M. H. (2010) Langmuir 2010:26.\\[0pt] [3] Downing, B.; Rutenberg, A.; Touhami, A.; Jericho, M. (2009) PLoS ONE 4: e7285.