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Quantitative Measurement and Analysis in a Synthetic Pattern Formation Multicellular System

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Engineering and Analyzing Multicellular Systems

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1151))

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Abstract

Pattern formation has been studied for more than a century in biology. In recent years there are increasing interests in studying it using bacteria and synthetic biology tools to program intercellular communication and cellular response to environment. Quantitative measurement is critical to dissect the interplay between the synthetic gene circuits with underline cellular processes and verify the mechanism determining the pattern formation. Here, we describe simple optical setups for quantitative measurements of the cell density and growth and spatial–temporal dynamic characterization of E. coli pattern formation in soft agar plates.

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Acknowledgement

This work is supported by a Research Grants Council of Hong Kong General Research Fund (No. 767711) and a University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine Development Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Room 518, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China

    Xiongfei Fu

  2. Department of Biology, South University of Science and Technology of China Nanshan, Shenzhen, China

    Wei Huang

  3. Department of Biochemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Room 518, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China

    Wei Huang

Authors
  1. Xiongfei Fu
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  2. Wei Huang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wei Huang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, University of Science & Technology of China,, Hefei, Anhui, China

    Lianhong Sun

  2. Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA

    Wenying Shou

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Fu, X., Huang, W. (2014). Quantitative Measurement and Analysis in a Synthetic Pattern Formation Multicellular System. In: Sun, L., Shou, W. (eds) Engineering and Analyzing Multicellular Systems. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1151. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0554-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0554-6_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-0553-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0554-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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