Figure 1: Mother machine workflow, schematic, and applications.

(1.1) Mother machine schematic. Growth channels flank a central flow cell that supplies fresh media and whisks away daughter cells. In a typical experiment, numerous fields of view (FOVs) are imaged for several hours. (1.2) Fluorescence images of E. coli strains expressing cytoplasmic YFP [1] (left) and markers for the replisome protein DnaN and division protein FtsZ (right) [10]. (1.3) The mother machine setup allows long-term monitoring of the old-pole mother cell lineage [1] and has other versatile applications, including (1.4) the study of the mechanical properties of bacterial cells by applying controlled Stokes forces [9].