Synergistic dual positive feedback loops established by molecular sequestration generate robust bimodal response

Feedback loops are ubiquitous features of biological networks and can produce significant phenotypic heterogeneity, including a bimodal distribution of gene expression across an isogenic cell population. In this work, a combination of experiments and computational modeling was used to explore the roles of multiple feedback loops in the bimodal, switch-like response of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae galactose regulatory network. Here, we show that bistability underlies the observed bimodality, as opposed to stochastic effects, and that two unique positive feedback loops established by Gal1p and Gal3p, which both regulate network activity by molecular sequestration of Gal80p, induce this bimodality. Indeed, systematically scanning through different single and multiple feedback loop knockouts, we demonstrate that there is always a concentration regime that preserves the system’s bimodality, except for the double deletion of GAL1 and the GAL3 feedback loop, which exhibits a graded response for all conditions tested. The constitutive production rates of Gal1p and Gal3p operate as bifurcation parameters because variations in these rates can also abolish the system’s bimodal response. Our model indicates that this second loss of bistability ensues from the inactivation of the remaining feedback loop by the overexpressed regulatory component. More broadly, we show that the sequestration binding affinity is a critical parameter that can tune the range of conditions for bistability in a circuit with positive feedback established by molecular sequestration. In this system, two positive feedback loops can significantly enhance the region of bistability and the dynamic response time

Contact-Less Measurement System for Cardiopulmonary Activity

International audienceThis paper presents a wireless cardiopulmonary activity measurement system. This system generates a continuous wave toward a person's chest set at a distance of 1 m, then reflected to the system. Using a vector network analyzer, the phase of S21 is computed. The phase variation of S21 contains information about cardiopulmonary activity. Several processing techniques are used to separate heartbeat signal from cardiorespiratory signal either in frequency or in temporal domain. The measurements were performed simultaneously with a PC-based electrocardiogram to validate the heartbeat rate detection techniques. In conclusion, processing techniques used in this paper give accurate results

The role of amino acids in improvement in salt tolerance of crop plants

The present work has been performed to study the growth and metabolic activities of maize and broad bean plants which are shown to have a degree of sensitivity to salinity and to determine the role of amino acids proline or phenylalanine in increasing the salt tolerance of theses plants. Dry mass, water content, leaf area and photosynthetic pigment of maize and broad bean plants decreased with increasing salinity. These changes were accompanied with a drop in the contents of soluble sugars, soluble proteins and amino acids. This was accompanied by a marked increase in the proline content. When maize and broad bean plants sprayed with proline or phenylalanine the opposite effect was occurred, saccharides as well as proteins progressively increased at all sanitization levels and proline concentration significantly declined. Salinity significantly increased the sodium content in both shoots and roots of maize and broad bean plants, while a decline in the accumulation of K+, Ca++, Mg++ and P was observed. Amino acids treatments markedlyaltered the selectivity of Na+, K+, Ca++ and P in both maize and broad bean plants. Spraying with any of either proline orphenylalanine restricted Na+ uptake and enhanced the uptake of K+, K+/Na+ ratio, Ca++ and P selectivity in maize and broad bean plants

Near-threshold ω\omega-meson production in proton-proton collisions: With or without resonance excitations ?

We present results for the $p p \to p p \omega$ reaction studied by considering two different scenarios: with and without the inclusion of nucleon resonance excitations. The recently measured angular distribution by the COSY-TOF Collaboration at an excess energy of $Q = 173$ MeV and the energy dependence of the total cross section data for $\pi^- p \to \omega n$ are used to calibrate the model parameters. The inclusion of nucleon resonances improves the theoretical prediction for the energy dependence of the total cross section in $pp \to pp\omega$ at excess energies $Q < 31$ MeV. However, it still underestimates the data by about a factor of two, and remains a problem in understanding the reaction mechanism.Comment: Fig.5 and text modified, Latex, 4 pages, 8 embedded figures, uses espcrc1.sty (included), talk presented at PANIC02, Osaka, Japan, 30 September - 4 October 200

Feedback regulation of the heat shock response in E. coli

Survival of organisms in extreme conditions has necessitated the evolution of stress response networks that detect and respond to environmental changes. Among the extreme conditions that cells must face is the exposure to higher than normal temperatures. In this paper, we propose a detailed biochemical model that captures the dynamical nature of the heat-shock response in Escherichia coli. Using this model, we show that both feedback and feedforward control are utilized to achieve robustness, performance, and efficiency of the response to the heat stress. We discuss the evolutionary advantages that feedback confers to the system, as compared to other strategies that could have been implemented to get the same performance

The role of Δ++∗(1620)\Delta^{++*}(1620) resonances in pp→nK+Σ+pp \to nK^+\Sigma^+ reaction and its important implications

The $pp \to nK^+\Sigma^+$ reaction is a very good isospin 3/2 filter for studying $\Delta^{++*}$ decaying to $K^+\Sigma^+$. With an effective Lagrangian approach, contributions from a previous ignored sub-$K^+\Sigma^+$-threshold resonance $\Delta^{++*}(1620)1/2^-$ are fully included in addition to those already considered in previous calculations. It is found that the $\Delta^{++*}(1620)1/2^-$ resonance gives an overwhelmingly dominant contribution for energies very close to threshold, with a very important contribution from the t-channel $\rho$ exchange. This solves the problem that all previous calculations seriously underestimate the near-threshold cross section by order(s) of magnitude. Many important implications of the results are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Population Diversification in a Yeast Metabolic Program Promotes Anticipation of Environmental Shifts

Delineating the strategies by which cells contend with combinatorial changing environments is crucial for understanding cellular regulatory organization. When presented with two carbon sources, microorganisms first consume the carbon substrate that supports the highest growth rate (e.g., glucose) and then switch to the secondary carbon source (e.g., galactose), a paradigm known as the Monod model. Sequential sugar utilization has been attributed to transcriptional repression of the secondary metabolic pathway, followed by activation of this pathway upon depletion of the preferred carbon source. In this work, we demonstrate that although Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells consume glucose before galactose, the galactose regulatory pathway is activated in a fraction of the cell population hours before glucose is fully consumed. This early activation reduces the time required for the population to transition between the two metabolic programs and provides a fitness advantage that might be crucial in competitive environments

On the Production of π+π+\pi^+\pi^+ Pairs in pp Collisions at 0.8 GeV

Data accumulated recently for the exclusive measurement of the $pp\to pp\pi^+\pi^-$ reaction at a beam energy of 0.793 GeV using the COSY-TOF spectrometer have been analyzed with respect to possible events from the $pp \to nn\pi^+\pi^+$ reaction channel. The latter is expected to be the only $\pi\pi$ production channel, which contains no major contributions from resonance excitation close to threshold and hence should be a good testing ground for chiral dynamics in the $\pi\pi$ production process. No single event has been found, which meets all conditions for being a candidate for the $pp \to nn \pi^+\pi^+$ reaction. This gives an upper limit for the cross section of 0.16 $\mu$b (90% C.L.), which is more than an order of magnitude smaller than the cross sections of the other two-pion production channels at the same incident energy

Lambda-N scattering length from the reaction gamma d -> K^+ Lambda n

The perspects of utilizing the strangeness-production reaction gamma d -> K^+ Lambda n for the determination of the Lambda n low-energy scattering parameters are investigated. The spin observables that need to be measured in order to isolate the Lambda n singlet (1S0) and triplet (3S1) states are identified. Possible kinematical regions where the extraction of the Lambda n scattering lengths might be feasible are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure