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Watching RNA in action to understand how bacteria organize gene expression
The Ortiz-Rodríguez Lab aims to understand how RNA molecules are organized, transported, translated, stored, and degraded inside living bacterial cells. Although the major steps of gene expression are well established, we still know surprisingly little about how individual mRNAs navigate the crowded and highly organized bacterial cytoplasm or how their spatial organization influences their fate. Our lab combines single-molecule tracking, super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, bacterial genetics, and quantitative biophysical analysis to directly observe these processes in living cells.
A major focus of our research is following individual mRNA molecules from their sites of transcription and determining how their motion and interactions change as they transition between translation, storage, and degradation. We are particularly interested in how bacterial biomolecular condensates, including BR-bodies, organize RNA metabolism and how their physical properties influence cellular responses to changing environmental conditions. By developing new imaging and analysis approaches that connect molecular dynamics with cellular function, the Ortiz-Rodríguez Lab seeks to uncover the physical principles that govern RNA organization and gene regulation in bacteria. Ultimately, our work will provide a quantitative framework for understanding how cells control the life cycle of RNA and how spatial organization contributes to bacterial physiology and adaptation.
The Ortiz-Rodríguez Lab aims to understand how RNA molecules are organized, transported, translated, stored, and degraded inside living bacterial cells. Although the major steps of gene expression are well established, we still know surprisingly little about how individual mRNAs navigate the crowded and highly organized bacterial cytoplasm or how their spatial organization influences their fate. Our lab combines single-molecule tracking, super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, bacterial genetics, and quantitative biophysical analysis to directly observe these processes in living cells.
A major focus of our research is following individual mRNA molecules from their sites of transcription and determining how their motion and interactions change as they transition between translation, storage, and degradation. We are particularly interested in how bacterial biomolecular condensates, including BR-bodies, organize RNA metabolism and how their physical properties influence cellular responses to changing environmental conditions. By developing new imaging and analysis approaches that connect molecular dynamics with cellular function, the Ortiz-Rodríguez Lab seeks to uncover the physical principles that govern RNA organization and gene regulation in bacteria. Ultimately, our work will provide a quantitative framework for understanding how cells control the life cycle of RNA and how spatial organization contributes to bacterial physiology and adaptation.
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