Unlimited multistability and Boolean logic in microbial signalling.

ABSTRACT: The ability to map environmental signals onto distinct internal physiological states or programmes is critical for single-celled microbes. A crucial systems dynamics feature underpinning such ability is multistability. While unlimited multistability is known to arise from multi-site phosphorylation seen in the signalling networks of eukaryotic cells, a similarly universal mechanism has not been identified in microbial signalling systems. These systems are generally known as two-component systems comprising histidine kinase (HK) receptors and response regulator proteins engaging in phosphotransfer reactions. We develop a mathematical framework for analysing microbial systems with multi-domain HK receptors known as hybrid and unorthodox HKs. We show that these systems embed a simple core net

SUBMITTER: Kothamachu VB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4528588 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature