ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2009
Deciding fate in adverse times: sporulation and competence in Bacillus subtilis.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 107 papers.
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Who cites it
107 citing papers in PubMed.
- TheApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Microbial single-cell omics in situ.Cell genomics · 2026Article
- Evolutionary bioenergetics of sporulation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Synthetic dynamic transcription frameworks and their applications.Nature chemistry · 2026Review
- Dissecting the role ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Colocalisation of lanthipeptide production with genetic exchange and defence systems across prokaryote genomes.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Article
- SpoIIIL is a forespore factor required for efficient cell-cell signalling during Bacillus subtilis sporulation.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- Time-resolved analysis of Bacillus subtilis DB104 Spo0A-mutant transcriptome profile and enhancement of recombinant protein release.Journal of microbiology (Seoul, Korea) · 2025Article
- Growth rate controls the sensitivity of gene regulatory circuits.Science advances · 2025Article
- Rok from B. subtilis: Bridging genome structure and transcription regulation.Molecular microbiology · 2025Review
- Activation of the general stress response sigma factor SigB prevents competence development inmBio · 2024Article
- Irreversibility in bacterial regulatory networks.Science advances · 2024Article
- Regulation of biofilm gene expression by DNA replication in Bacillus subtilis.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2024Article
- Dynamical model of antibiotic responses linking expression of resistance genes to metabolism explains emergence of heterogeneity during drug exposures.Physical biology · 2024Article
- Agency as an Inherent Property of Living Organisms.Biological theory · 2024Review
- Structural basis of peptide secretion for Quorum sensing by ComA.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Article
- Quorum sensing as a mechanism to harness the wisdom of the crowds.Nature communications · 2023Article
47 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bacteria serve as the central arena for understanding how gene networks and proteins process information and control cellular behaviors. Recently, much effort has been devoted to the investigation of specific bacteria gene circuits as functioning modules. The next challenge is the integrative modeling of complex cellular networks composed of many such modules. A tractable integrative model of the sophisticated decision-making signal transduction system that determines the fate between sporulation and competence is presented. This model provides an understanding of how information is sensed and processed to reach an "informative" decision in the context of cell state and signals from other cells. The competence module (ComK dynamics) is modeled as a stochastic switch whose transition rate is controlled by a quorum-sensing unit. The sporulation module (Spo0A dynamics) is modeled as a timer whose clock rate is adjusted by a stress-sensing unit. The interplay between these modules is mediated via the Rap assessment system, which gates the sensing units, and the AbrB-Rok decision module, which creates an opportunity for competence within a specific window of the sporulation timer. The timer is regulated via a special repressilator-like inhibition of Spo0A* by Spo0E, which is itself inhibited by AbrB. For some stress and input signals, this repressilator can generate a frustration state with large variations (fluctuations or oscillations) in Spo0A* and AbrB concentrations, which might serve an important role in generating cell variability. This integrative framework is a starting point that can be extended to include transition into cannibalism and the role of colony organization.
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