The interplay of multiple feedback loops with post-translational kinetics results in bistability of mycobacterial stress response.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial persistence is the phenomenon in which a genetically identical fraction of a bacterial population can survive exposure to stress by reduction or cessation of growth. Persistence in mycobacteria has been recently linked to a stress-response network, consisting of the MprA/MprB two-component system and alternative sigma factor sigma(E). This network contains multiple positive transcriptional feedback loops which may give rise to bistability, making it a good candidate for controlling the mycobacterial persistence switch. To analyze the possibility of bistability, we develop a method that involves decoupling of the network into transcriptional and post-translational interaction modules. As a result we reduce the dimensionality of the dynamical system and independently analyze input-

SUBMITTER: Tiwari A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3543150 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature