# Division site determination in Gram-positive bacteria

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA · 2020 · $371,828

## Abstract

Cell division is an essential biological process. Majority of the attempts to understand bacterial
cell division stems from research performed in rod-shaped model organisms, Gram-negative
Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. Even in these model bacteria, new reports have
exposed the presence of as-yet unidentified cell division factors. Unlike these rod-shaped organisms,
which divide in the middle perpendicular to the long axis, spherical Staphylococcus aureus cells divide
sequentially in orthogonal planes. Though this nature of S. aureus cell division has been known for 40
years, no viable models exist at this time to explain how this mode of cytokinesis is achieved and its
significance in this organism. S. aureus also lacks a key cell division regulatory system (Min system)
that is present in model organisms. Our proposed project is designed to address these major
knowledge gaps in the field of bacterial cell division, specifically in the Gram-positive model bacterium
B. subtilis and the spherical bacterium of significant

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10000954
- **Project number:** 5R35GM133617-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Prahathees Jai Eswara
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $371,828
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10000954

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10000954, Division site determination in Gram-positive bacteria (5R35GM133617-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10000954. Licensed CC0.

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