Escherichia coli autoinducer-2 uptake network does not display hysteretic behavior but AI-2 synthesis rate controls transient bifurcation》.pdfVIP

BioSystems 99 (2010) 17–26 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect BioSystems j o u rn al h omepage: w w w. elsev /locate/biosystems Escherichia coli autoinducer-2 uptake network does not display hysteretic behavior but AI-2 synthesis rate controls transient bifurcation Andres F. Gonzalez Barrios a,b,∗ , Luke E.K. Achenie a a Department of Chemical, Materials and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, United States b Grupo de Diseno de Productos y Procesos (GDPP), Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia ˜ a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Analysis of different architectures of quorum sensing networks has been the center of attention in recent Received 23 May 2007 times. The approach employs mathematical models to uncover the factors behind the dynamics. Quo- Received in revised form 10 August 2009 rum sensing networks mostly display autoregulation such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio cholerae. Accepted 10 August 2009 However, Escherichia coli autoinducer-2 (AI-2) synthesis does not display autoinduction (i.e. autoregula- tion). This and other features have raised questions about the actual function of AI-2 inside the cell. In Keywords: this paper we propose a model for lsr operon regulation which explains or at least is consistent with AI-2 E. coli uptake in E. coli. The m