Julie Biteen

Research and Teaching Interests: 

Single-Molecule Super-Resolution Imaging and Nanophotonics for Live-Cell Microbiology

By beating the diffraction limit that restricts traditional light microscopy, single-molecule fluorescence imaging is a flexible, noninvasive way to sensitively probe position and dynamics.

Our lab has pioneered super-resolution imaging methods for applications to central processes that remain contested by microbiologists. Based on the methods that we have developed for single-molecule imaging in live bacterial cells, we have uncovered the organization of structural proteins, we have revealed the mechanism of membrane-bound transcription regulation in the pathogenic Vibrio cholerae, we have demonstrated the dynamic interactions involved in starch degradation in the human gut symbiont Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, and we have uncovered an intimate and dynamic coupling between DNA mismatch recognition and DNA replication in a highly conserved repair pathway.

Moreover, we have examined the nanoscale fundamentals of plasmon-enhanced fluorescence with a combination of single-molecule imaging experiments and electromagnetic simulations, and we are now applying this understanding to biocompatible enhancement of fluorescent protein emission, extending the implications of metal-enhanced fluorescence to increased signal and resolution in live-cell bio-imaging, and creating a flexible technology for high-resolution, real-time imaging.

Representative Publications

D.J. Rowland, H.H. Tuson and J.S. Biteen, “Resolving fast, confined diffusion in bacteria with image correlation spectroscopy,” Biophysical Journal, 110 2241-2251 (2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2016.04.023

H.H. Tuson, A. Aliaj, E.R. Brandes, L.A. Simmons and J.S. Biteen, “Addressing the Requirements of High Sensitivity Single-Molecule Imaging of Low-Copy Number Proteins in Bacteria,” ChemPhysChem, 17 1435-1440 (2016). DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201600035

J.D. Flynn, B.L. Haas and J.S. Biteen, “Plasmon-Enhanced Fluorescence from Single Proteins in Living Bacteria,” Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 120 20512-20517 (2016). DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b08049

Y. Liao, J.W. Schroeder, B. Gao, L.A. Simmons* and J.S. Biteen*, “Single-molecule motions and interactions in live cells reveal target search dynamics in mismatch repair,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 112 E6898-E6906 (2015). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1507386112

K.S. Karunatilaka, E.A. Cameron, E.C. Martens, N.M. Koropatkin and J.S. Biteen, “Superresolution Imaging Captures Carbohydrate Utilization Dynamics in Human Gut Symbionts.” mBio, 5 e02172-14 (2014). DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02172-14

Research Areas(s)

• Super-Resolution Imaging, Single-Molecule Fluorescence, Live-Cell Biomedical Imaging, Plasmonics, Nanophotonics

Award(s)

• Biophysical Society Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award, 2017
• Journal of Physical Chemistry B Lectureship Award, 2016
• Research Corporation/Moore Foundation Scialog Fellow 2015-2016
• NSF CAREER Award, 2013
• PicoQuant Young Investigator Award, 2011
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface 2009
• UM Biological Sciences Scholar 2009