Phenotypic states become increasingly sensitive to perturbations near a bifurcation in a synthetic gene network
Name
Axelrod-2015-Phenotypic states be.pdf
Size
1.59 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b6859e0c39e33e7e8bac2fdd5d62d179
Author(s)
Axelrod, Kevin
Sanchez, Alvaro
Gore, Jeff
Date Issued
August 2015
Journal
eLife
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd.
Citation
Axelrod, Kevin, Alvaro Sanchez, and Jeff Gore. “Phenotypic States Become Increasingly Sensitive to Perturbations Near a Bifurcation in a Synthetic Gene Network.” eLife 4 (August 24, 2015).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Microorganisms often exhibit a history-dependent phenotypic response after exposure to a stimulus which can be imperative for proper function. However, cells frequently experience unexpected environmental perturbations that might induce phenotypic switching. How cells maintain phenotypic states in the face of environmental fluctuations remains an open question. Here, we use environmental perturbations to characterize the resilience of phenotypic states in a synthetic gene network near a critical transition. We find that far from the critical transition an environmental perturbation may induce little to no phenotypic switching, whereas close to the critical transition the same perturbation can cause many cells to switch phenotypic states. This loss of resilience was observed for perturbations that interact directly with the gene circuit as well as for a variety of generic perturbations-such as salt, ethanol, or temperature shocks-that alter the state of the cell more broadly. We obtain qualitatively similar findings in natural gene circuits, such as the yeast GAL network. Our findings illustrate how phenotypic memory can become destabilized by environmental variability near a critical transition.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07935
