Stress-induced Non-genetic memory loss in bacteria

Non-genetic inheritance plays a fundamental role in determining cellular properties in future generations and in restraining the proliferation of non-genetic cell-to-cell variation resulting from stochastic processes in the cell. It is, therefore, important to be able to measure it and quantitatively characterize it reliably. We have recently developed a new method that allows measuring and characterizing non-genetic inheritance (or cellular memory) in the simple bacterial model organism E. coli. The method utilizes a novel microfluidic device, coined “sisters machine”, that enables us to track and measure how two sister cells become different from each other over time. In this talk I will present our recent measurements, which reveal how non-genetic inheritance contributes to regulating the various cellular properties (e.g. size, growth rate, etc.) in future generations, and how it is affected by environmental stress such as the application of antibiotics.