Subtilis spectacle: From microns to nanometers

Agrawal, Utsav

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/49064 Copy

Description

Title

Subtilis spectacle: From microns to nanometers

Author(s)

Agrawal, Utsav

Contributor(s)

Rao, Hanna, Rao, Christopher V., Schroeder, Charles M.

Issue Date

2014-05

Keyword(s)

Chemical Engineering

Abstract

The art shows diffraction limited (left) image transitioning towards a super-resolved image (right) of a chemotactic protein in bacteria called B.subtilis. The bacterial membrane (green) and DNA stain (blue) are also shown in the figure with localizations (red spots) indicating the protein of interest. The exquisite resolution of 20 nm is conferred by reconstruction of about 20,000 images obtained over time. (scale bar: 1000 nm) The ability to image cellular events using fluorescence microscopy is of paramount importance for understanding dynamic biological processes.However, optical diffraction limits the spatial resolution of conventional fluorescence microscopy to 250 nm, which precludes spatially resolved analysis of nanometer-scale cellular protein assemblies. Therefore, to elucidate a comprehensive molecular-level understanding of key events in bacterial motility, I am applying fluorescence nanoscopy-based imaging techniques to enable super-resolution imaging with an improved spatial resolution of 20-25 nm in our lab. I am currently investigating dynamic changes in spatial architectures of key chemotactic proteins in response to chemical stimulation. I capitalize on advances in synthetic click chemistry technology, optical microscopy, and digital image processing to enhance fundamental understanding on mechanics of bacterial motility, which has broad implications in applied industrial microbiology and provides a great precedent towards understanding cellular signaling.

Type of Resource

• text
• image

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/49064

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Copyright 2014 Utsav Agrawal

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