Publication Date:
2011-10-08
Description:
Gene regulatory circuits can use dynamic, and even stochastic, strategies to respond to environmental conditions. We examined activation of the general stress response mediated by the alternative sigma factor, sigma(B), in individual Bacillus subtilis cells. We observed that energy stress activates sigma(B) in discrete stochastic pulses, with increasing levels of stress leading to higher pulse frequencies. By perturbing and rewiring the endogenous system, we found that this behavior results from three key features of the sigma(B) circuit: an ultrasensitive phosphorylation switch; stochasticity ("noise"), which activates that switch; and a mixed (positive and negative) transcriptional feedback, which can both amplify a pulse and switch it off. Together, these results show how prokaryotes encode signals using stochastic pulse frequency modulation through a compact regulatory architecture.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4100694/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉 〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4100694/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Locke, James C W -- Young, Jonathan W -- Fontes, Michelle -- Hernandez Jimenez, Maria Jesus -- Elowitz, Michael B -- P50 GM068763/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM079771/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01GM079771/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- Howard Hughes Medical Institute/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2011 Oct 21;334(6054):366-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1208144. Epub 2011 Oct 6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Division of Biology and Bioengineering, Broad Center, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21979936" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Bacillus subtilis/*genetics/metabolism/*physiology
;
Bacterial Proteins/genetics/*metabolism
;
Carrier Proteins/genetics/metabolism
;
Feedback, Physiological
;
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
;
*Gene Regulatory Networks
;
Mycophenolic Acid/pharmacology
;
Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases/genetics/metabolism
;
Phosphorylation
;
Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases/genetics/metabolism
;
Sigma Factor/genetics/*metabolism
;
Stochastic Processes
;
*Stress, Physiological
;
Transcription, Genetic
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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