Hidden hysteresis - population dynamics can obscure gene network dynamics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Positive feedback is a common motif in gene regulatory networks. It can be used in synthetic networks as an amplifier to increase the level of gene expression, as well as a nonlinear module to create bistable gene networks that display hysteresis in response to a given stimulus. Using a synthetic positive feedback-based tetracycline sensor in E. coli, we show that the population dynamics of a cell culture has a profound effect on the observed hysteretic response of a population of cells with this synthetic gene circuit.

Results

The amount of observable hysteresis in a cell culture harboring the gene circuit depended on the initial concentration of cells within the culture. The magnitude of the hysteresis observed was inversely related to the dilution procedure use

SUBMITTER: Poisson P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3700772 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature