IMSc Webinar

Modeling biological polymers: size of the bacterial chromosome, and phase separation of proteins

Pinaki Swain

McGill University

Polymers are essential components of cells. In this talk, I will discuss two cellular components which consist of polymers. First, I will talk about the chromosome in E. coli bacteria. The chromosome in E. coli is a circular polymer that will extend up to a few millimeters. This long polymer is present in a sphero-cylindrical cell of micron size. In experiments, we can grow E. coli
up to ten times their normal size by biochemical manipulations. The chromosome in such extended
cells tends to grow gradually and then saturate. We show that crowding can explain the variation of
chromosome size with cell size. Next, I will discuss the phase separation of proteins found in C.
elegans nucleolus. We model the proteins as polymers with many types of interactions. I will
discuss the model and some preliminary findings.

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