Abstract

This seminar will cover two independent topics – bioinformatics and experimental biology. The first part will focus on the EcoliHub project. The second will cover recent work on dynamic localization of membrane proteins to the poles of the E. coli cell.

EcoliHub: We envision a future where a dynamic community of online resources (both information and computational resources) acts cooperatively, with each resource focusing on its strength and expertise, and linking to the strength and expertise of other resources. This vision of collaboration and sharing is part of a suite of strategies that are collectively now referred to as Web 2.0. EcoliHub will not replace existing information resources; the goal is to add value to these resources by: 1) improving the ability to share information and computational services among resources, 2) allowing resources to be combined (piped together) in new ways, without requiring additional development effort by the provider, 3) improving the community’s ability to find information and resources, 4) providing new information and resources that ‘fill in the gaps’ between existing resources and improve the quality of information provided by all participating E. coli resources. The current status of the EcoliHub project will be described.

Polar localization: About E. coli 100 proteins appear to be specifically localized to the ends (poles) of an E. coli cell. In collaboration with K. P. Ritchie (a physicist), we are using fluorescent derivatives of membrane proteins and epifluorescence microscopy to study the movement of single molecules inside living cells.