Intra- and intercellular fluctuations in Min-protein dynamics decrease with cell length
arXiv:1009.4167 · doi:10.1073/pnas.0911708107
Abstract
Self-organization of proteins in space and time is of crucial importance for the functioning of cellular processes. Often, this organization takes place in the presence of strong random fluctuations due to the small number of molecules involved. We report on stochastic switching of the Min-protein distributions between the two cell halves in short Escherichia coli cells. A computational model provides strong evidence that the macroscopic switching is rooted in microscopic noise on the molecular scale. In longer bacteria, the switching turns into regular oscillations that are required for positioning of the division plane. As the pattern becomes more regular, cell-to-cell variability also lessens, indicating cell length-dependent regulation of Min-protein activity.
Article and Supplementary Information: 26 pages, 12 figures
References in corpus (7)
- Power-law distributions in empirical data
- Pattern formation inside bacteria: fluctuations due to low copy number of proteins
- Transitions Induced by the Discreteness of Molecules in a Small Autocatalytic System
- Mobility of Min-proteins in Escherichia coli measured by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy
- Min-oscillations in Escherichia coli induced by interactions of membrane-bound proteins
- A stochastic model of Min oscillations in Escherichia coli and Min protein segregation during cell division
- Stochastic model for Soj relocation dynamics in Bacillus subtilis
Cited by in corpus (8)
- Self-organization principles of intracellular pattern formation
- Exponential volume dependence of entropy-current fluctuations at first-order phase transitions in chemical reaction networks
- Physical approaches to the dynamics of genetic circuits: A tutorial
- Stochastic thermodynamics of chemical reactions coupled to finite reservoirs: A case study for the Brusselator
- Optimizing periodicity and polymodality in noise-induced genetic oscillators
- Interlinked GTPase cascades provide a motif for both robust switches and oscillators
- Bistable protein distributions in rod-shaped bacteria
- A Simple Model of Cell Proliferation of Bacteria Using Min Oscillation