Synthetic biology aims to redesign and reconstruct existing living systems or design and create biological parts/systems that do not exist in nature. The lack of capabilities in rational design has largely limited the advancement of synthetic biology, and a deeper understanding of the workings of existing life forms will greatly help us to overcome this bottleneck.
Multiplication is a fundamental requirement for all life forms. The doubling time of bacterial cells varies in different growth environments, ranging from approximately 20 minutes to several hours. The cell size, the amount of DNA content, the initiation time point of DNA replication, and the rate of DNA replication vary with the doubling time. An in-depth understanding of how DNA replication and cell division are regulated in bacteria not only is essential for understanding microbial physiology but also will enhance our ability to rationally design synthetic living systems.
In this project, we will combine synthetic biology with single-cell level analysis, such as microscopy and flow cytometry, and population-level analysis, including biochemistry, transcriptomics, and proteomics. Quantitative observations and analysis will elucidate the interconnections between bacterial cell growth, DNA replication, and cell division and reveal the underlying regulatory mechanisms at the molecular level.
