Physics – Biological Physics
Scientific paper
2002-11-20
Physics
Biological Physics
16 pages, 9 figures
Scientific paper
10.1016/S0006-3495(03)70021-6
The signaling apparatus mediating bacterial chemotaxis can adapt to a wide range of persistent external stimuli. In many cases, the bacterial activity returns to its pre-stimulus level exactly and this "perfect adaptability" is robust against variations in various chemotaxis protein concentrations. We model the bacterial chemotaxis signaling pathway, from ligand binding to CheY phosphorylation. By solving the steady-state equations of the model analytically, we derive a full set of conditions for the system to achieve perfect adaptation. The conditions related to the phosphorylation part of the pathway are discovered for the first time, while other conditions are generalization of the ones found in previous works. Sensitivity of the perfect adaptation is evaluated by perturbing these conditions. We find that, even in the absence of some of the perfect adaptation conditions, adaptation can be achieved with near perfect precision as a result of the separation of scales in both chemotaxis protein concentrations and reaction rates, or specific properties of the receptor distribution in different methylation states. Since near perfect adaptation can be found in much larger regions of the parameter space than that defined by the perfect adaptation conditions, their existence is essential to understand robustness in bacterial chemotaxis.
Mello Bernardo A.
Tu Yuhai
No associations
LandOfFree
Perfect and near perfect adaptation in a model of bacterial chemotaxis does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Perfect and near perfect adaptation in a model of bacterial chemotaxis, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Perfect and near perfect adaptation in a model of bacterial chemotaxis will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-190198