# Spatial Organization and Regulation of Bacterial Cellular Processes

> **NIH NIH R35** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $567,672

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Bacterial cells, despite their relatively small genomes and non-compartmentalized cytoplasm, perform a
variety of complex cellular tasks that are regulated both at the molecular level through canonical biochemical
interactions and at the subcellular level through the spatial organization of molecules. My laboratory is broadly
interested in understanding how the molecular constituents of bacterial cellular processes are spatially organized
and what essential functions such an organization conveys. Our current research focuses on bacterial cell
division, transcription and phage-host interactions using E. coli as a model organism. Specifically, we will (1)
determine the spatial coordination and regulation of the septal cell wall synthase complex FtsWI by FtsZ's
treadmilling dynamics; (2) investigate the spatial organizations of RNA polymerase, essential transcription
factors and chromosomal DNAs and their associated functions; and (3) probe the localization, dynamics and
interactions of phage lysis proteins in cell's envelop. We are uniquely positioned to take on these tasks because
of our extensive expertise in quantitative single molecule imaging and bacterial cell biology. We expect our work
to provide new molecular insight that could be used to develop new strategies to treat bacterial infection.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10133097
- **Project number:** 5R35GM136436-02
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jie Xiao
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $567,672
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-04-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10133097

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10133097, Spatial Organization and Regulation of Bacterial Cellular Processes (5R35GM136436-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10133097. Licensed CC0.

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