Basal expression rate of comK sets a switching-window into the K-state of Bacillus subtilis

@article{citeulike:1167061, abstract = {Bacillus subtilis cell population divides into a competent fraction and a non-competent fraction in the stationary phase. The transition from the non-competent state (with basal ComK concentration) to the K-state (with high ComK concentration) behaves like a bistable switch. To better understand the mechanism that sets the fraction of cells that switch into the K-state (K-fraction), we characterized the basal comK expression in individual non-competent cells and found a large cell-to-cell variation. Basal expression rate increased exponentially, reached a maximum and decreased towards zero in the stationary phase. Concomitantly, the intrinsic switching rate increased and decreased with a time lag. When switching was induced prematurely by reduction of ComK proteolysis, the K-fraction increased strongly. Our data support a model in which the average basal level of ComK raises during late exponential phase and due to noise in basal comK expression only those cells that are on the high end of comK expression trigger the autocatalytic feedback for ComK transcription. We show that a subsequent shut-down of basal expression rate sets a ‘time-window’ for switching and is thus involved in determining the K-fraction in the bimodal population.}, author = {Leisner and Madeleine and Stingl and Kerstin and Radler and Joachim, O. and Maier and Berenike}, citeulike-article-id = {1167061}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05628.x}, issn = {0950-382X}, journal = {Molecular Microbiology}, keywords = {bsubtilis, competence}, month = {March}, number = {6}, pages = {1806--1816}, posted-at = {2008-03-25 14:42:41}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Blackwell Publishing}, title = {Basal expression rate of comK sets a switching-window into the K-state of Bacillus subtilis}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05628.x}, volume = {63}, year = {2007} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1167061 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1167061 TI - Basal expression rate of comK sets a switching-window into the K-state of Bacillus subtilis JF - Molecular Microbiology VL - 63 IS - 6 SP - 1806 EP - 1816 PB - Blackwell Publishing SN - 0950-382X N2 - Bacillus subtilis cell population divides into a competent fraction and a non-competent fraction in the stationary phase. The transition from the non-competent state (with basal ComK concentration) to the K-state (with high ComK concentration) behaves like a bistable switch. To better understand the mechanism that sets the fraction of cells that switch into the K-state (K-fraction), we characterized the basal comK expression in individual non-competent cells and found a large cell-to-cell variation. Basal expression rate increased exponentially, reached a maximum and decreased towards zero in the stationary phase. Concomitantly, the intrinsic switching rate increased and decreased with a time lag. When switching was induced prematurely by reduction of ComK proteolysis, the K-fraction increased strongly. Our data support a model in which the average basal level of ComK raises during late exponential phase and due to noise in basal comK expression only those cells that are on the high end of comK expression trigger the autocatalytic feedback for ComK transcription. We show that a subsequent shut-down of basal expression rate sets a ‘time-window’ for switching and is thus involved in determining the K-fraction in the bimodal population. KW - bsubtilis KW - competence AU - Leisner AU - Madeleine AU - Stingl AU - Kerstin AU - Radler AU - Joachim, O AU - Maier AU - Berenike PY - 2007/03// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05628.x ER -