Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene
Abstract The ability of living cells to maintain an inheritable memory of their gene‐expression state is key to cellular differentiation. Bacterial lysogeny serves as a simple paradigm for long‐term cellular memory. In this study, we address the following question: in the absence of external perturb...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2010-11-01
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| Series: | Molecular Systems Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/msb.2010.96 |
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| author | Chenghang Zong Lok‐hang So Leonardo A Sepúlveda Samuel O Skinner Ido Golding |
| author_facet | Chenghang Zong Lok‐hang So Leonardo A Sepúlveda Samuel O Skinner Ido Golding |
| author_sort | Chenghang Zong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The ability of living cells to maintain an inheritable memory of their gene‐expression state is key to cellular differentiation. Bacterial lysogeny serves as a simple paradigm for long‐term cellular memory. In this study, we address the following question: in the absence of external perturbation, how long will a cell stay in the lysogenic state before spontaneously switching away from that state? We show by direct measurement that lysogen stability exhibits a simple exponential dependence on the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene, cI. We quantify these gene‐activity bursts using single‐molecule‐resolution mRNA measurements in individual cells, analyzed using a stochastic mathematical model of the gene‐network kinetics. The quantitative relation between stability and gene activity is independent of the fine details of gene regulation, suggesting that a quantitative prediction of cell‐state stability may also be possible in more complex systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e56839c246314b348d352ce47637259c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1744-4292 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2010-11-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Molecular Systems Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-e56839c246314b348d352ce47637259c2025-08-20T02:18:35ZengSpringer NatureMolecular Systems Biology1744-42922010-11-016111210.1038/msb.2010.96Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining geneChenghang Zong0Lok‐hang So1Leonardo A Sepúlveda2Samuel O Skinner3Ido Golding4Department of Physics, University of IllinoisDepartment of Physics, University of IllinoisVerna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Baylor College of MedicineDepartment of Physics, University of IllinoisDepartment of Physics, University of IllinoisAbstract The ability of living cells to maintain an inheritable memory of their gene‐expression state is key to cellular differentiation. Bacterial lysogeny serves as a simple paradigm for long‐term cellular memory. In this study, we address the following question: in the absence of external perturbation, how long will a cell stay in the lysogenic state before spontaneously switching away from that state? We show by direct measurement that lysogen stability exhibits a simple exponential dependence on the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene, cI. We quantify these gene‐activity bursts using single‐molecule‐resolution mRNA measurements in individual cells, analyzed using a stochastic mathematical model of the gene‐network kinetics. The quantitative relation between stability and gene activity is independent of the fine details of gene regulation, suggesting that a quantitative prediction of cell‐state stability may also be possible in more complex systems.https://doi.org/10.1038/msb.2010.96epigenetic stabilitylysislysogenyphage lambdastochastic gene expression |
| spellingShingle | Chenghang Zong Lok‐hang So Leonardo A Sepúlveda Samuel O Skinner Ido Golding Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene Molecular Systems Biology epigenetic stability lysis lysogeny phage lambda stochastic gene expression |
| title | Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene |
| title_full | Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene |
| title_fullStr | Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene |
| title_short | Lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate‐determining gene |
| title_sort | lysogen stability is determined by the frequency of activity bursts from the fate determining gene |
| topic | epigenetic stability lysis lysogeny phage lambda stochastic gene expression |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/msb.2010.96 |
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