A molecular beacon defines bacterial cell asymmetry.

Many cells divide asymmetrically by generating two different cell ends or poles prior to cell division, but the mechanisms by which cells distinguish one pole from the other is poorly understood. In this issue of Cell, Huitema et al. (2006) and Lam et al. (2006) describe a protein that defines one specific pole of a bacterial cell by localizing to the site of cell division to be inherited by both progeny at the resulting new poles.