Design and diversity in bacterial chemotaxis: a comparative study in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. PLoS Biol 2004 Feb;2(2):E49
Date
02/18/2004Pubmed ID
14966542Pubmed Central ID
PMC340952DOI
10.1371/journal.pbio.0020049Scopus ID
2-s2.0-19344376625 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 123 CitationsAbstract
Comparable processes in different species often involve homologous genes. One question is whether the network structure, in particular the feedback control structure, is also conserved. The bacterial chemotaxis pathways in E. coli and B. subtilis both regulate the same task, namely, excitation and adaptation to environmental signals. Both pathways employ many orthologous genes. Yet how these orthologs contribute to network function in each organism is different. To investigate this problem, we propose what is to our knowledge the first computational model for B. subtilis chemotaxis and compare it to previously published models for chemotaxis in E. coli. The models reveal that the core control strategy for signal processing is the same in both organisms, though in B. subtilis there are two additional feedback loops that provide an additional layer of regulation and robustness. Furthermore, the network structures are different despite the similarity of the proteins in each organism. These results demonstrate the limitations of pathway inferences based solely on homology and suggest that the control strategy is an evolutionarily conserved property.
Author List
Rao CV, Kirby JR, Arkin APAuthor
John Kirby PhD Chair, Center Associate Director, Professor in the Microbiology and Immunology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AcclimatizationBacillus
Chemotaxis
Escherichia coli
Models, Genetic
Molecular Sequence Data
