DocumentCode :
1058522
Title :
Design and mathematical modelling of a synthetic symbiotic ecosystem
Author :
Kambam, P.K.R. ; Henson, M.A. ; Sun, L.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Chem. Eng., Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA
Volume :
2
Issue :
1
fYear :
2008
fDate :
1/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
33
Lastpage :
38
Abstract :
Artificial microbial ecosystems have been increasingly used to understand principles of ecology. These systems offer unique capabilities to mimic a variety of ecological interactions that otherwise would be difficult to study experimentally in a reasonable period of time. However, the elucidation of the genetic bases for these interactions remains a daunting challenge. To address this issue, we have designed and analysed a synthetic symbiotic ecosystem in which the genetic nature of the microbial interactions is defined explicitly. A mathematical model of the gene regulatory network in each species and their interaction through quorum sensing mediated intercellular signalling was derived to investigate the effect of system components on cooperative behaviour. Dynamic simulation and bifurcation analysis showed that the designed system admits a stable coexistence steady state for sufficiently large initial cell concentrations of the two species. The steady-state fraction of each species could be altered by varying model parameters associated with gene transcription and signalling molecule synthesis rates. The design also admitted a stable steady state corresponding to extinction of the two species for low initial cell concentrations and stable periodic solutions over certain domains of parameter space. The mathematical analysis was shown to provide insights into natural microbial ecosystems and to allow identification of molecular targets for engineering system behaviour. (Includes 7 pages of supplementary material).
Keywords :
bifurcation; biology computing; cellular biophysics; ecology; genetics; microorganisms; artificial microbial ecosystems; bifurcation analysis; cell concentrations; dynamic simulation; ecological interaction; gene regulatory network; gene transcription; mathematical modelling; signalling molecule synthesis rate; symbiotic ecosystem;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Systems Biology, IET
Publisher :
iet
ISSN :
1751-8849
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1049/iet-syb:20070011
Filename :
4446653
Link To Document :
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