Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25401094›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology2014

The physics of bacterial decision making.

Eshel Ben-Jacob, Mingyang Lu, Daniel Schultz, Jose' N Onuchic

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 19% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 36 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Evolutionary bioenergetics of sporulation.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026
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  8. Role of metabolic spatiotemporal dynamics in regulating biofilm colony expansion.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018
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  14. Agent-based model of angiogenesis simulates capillary sprout initiation in multicellular networks.Integrative biology : quantitative biosciences from nano to macro · 2015
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Eshel Ben-JacobCenter for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University Houston, TX, USA ; Department of Biosciences, Rice University Houston, TX, USA ; School of Physics and Astronomy and The Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv University Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Mingyang LuCenter for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University Houston, TX, USA.
Daniel SchultzDepartment of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA.
Jose' N OnuchicCenter for Theoretical Biological Physics, Rice University Houston, TX, USA ; Department of Biosciences, Rice University Houston, TX, USA ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University Houston, TX, USA ; Department of Chemistry, Rice University Houston, TX, USA.
Rice University · USHarvard University · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The choice that bacteria make between sporulation and competence when subjected to stress provides a prototypical example of collective cell fate determination that is stochastic on the individual cell level, yet predictable (deterministic) on the population level. This collective decision is performed by an elaborated gene network. Considerable effort has been devoted to simplify its complexity by taking physics approaches to untangle the basic functional modules that are integrated to form the complete network: (1) A stochastic switch whose transition probability is controlled by two order parameters-population density and internal/external stress. (2) An adaptable timer whose clock rate is normalized by the same two previous order parameters. (3) Sensing units which measure population density and external stress. (4) A communication module that exchanges information about the cells' internal stress levels. (5) An oscillating gate of the stochastic switch which is regulated by the timer. The unique circuit architecture of the gate allows special dynamics and noise management features. The gate opens a window of opportunity in time for competence transitions, during which the circuit generates oscillations that are translated into a chain of short intervals with high transition probability. In addition, the unique architecture of the gate allows filtering of external noise and robustness against variations in circuit parameters and internal noise. We illustrate that a physics approach can be very valuable in investigating the decision process and in identifying its general principles. We also show that both cell-cell variability and noise have important functional roles in the collectively controlled individual decisions.

Indexed as

Bacterial Physiological PhenomenaModels, BiologicalAlgorithmsGene Expression Regulation, BacterialGene Regulatory NetworksSpores, BacterialBacillus subtiliscell communicationcell fate determinationcomputational modelinggene circuitsnoise managementsporulation and competence

Identifiers

PMID25401094
PMCPMC4214203
OpenAlexW2112274506

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.