Awarded in 2010
Home Department: Chemistry
Faculty Advisors: Julie Theriot (Biochemistry, Microbiology & Immunology) and KC Huang (Bioengineering and Microbiology & Immunology)

Research Title: Role of mechanical forces and cell wall hydrolases in S. aureus daughter cell separation

Research Description: Most bacteria surround themselves with a tough cell wall exoskeleton made of peptidoglycan, a cage-like macromolecule that preserves cellular integrity and maintains cell shape. While its essential function is to be robust enough to protect the cell, peptidoglycan is also required to be dynamic (constantly remodeled) to accommodate cell growth and division. Enzymes that hydrolyse peptidoglycan are crucial for these processes, but their activities can be lethal if not tightly controlled. Xiaoxue wants to understand how bacteria coordinate and regulate their peptidoglycan hydrolyses to accomplish cell division while not breaking the integrity of their peptidoglycan exoskeleton.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Snow is an incoming Assistant Professor at NYU Biology in 2024.