The right place at the right time: Probing the mechanisms of physical organization in bacterial cells. Nathan J. Kuwada, PhD. Department of Physics, University of Washington. One of the most striking aspects of the cell is the broad range of cell-cycle dependent patterning and partitioning of subcellular components. Despite its physiological importance, the biophysical mechanisms responsible for most of this complex spatiotemporal organization in bacteria are currently unknown. Our lab attempts to quantitatively characterize these mechanisms using a combination of high-throughput, complete cell-cycle fluorescence microscopy and automated image analysis. I will present results from two projects that represent the power of this approach: (1) a measurement of the force profile on the E. coli chromosome throughout the cell cycle, including the dynamic segregation process following replication, and (2) the first proteome-wide characterization of localization dynamics for every individual protein in E. coli. We expect this quantitative cell-cycle imaging approach will be widely applicable to understanding the emerging role of physical organization in prokaryotic cellular function.