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Updated: Jun 26, 2026

Following Cell-fate in E. coli After Infection by Phage Lambda
Published on: October 14, 2011
Stochastic probability landscape model for switching efficiency, robustness, and differential threshold for induction
Youfang Cao1, Hsiao-Mei Lu, Jie Liang
1Shanghai Center for Systems Biomedicine, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China. yfcao@sjtu.edu.cn
Abstract:
The genetic switch of phage lambda provides a paradigm for studying developmental biology and cell fate. Although there have been numerous experimental and theoretical studies, the mechanisms for switching efficiency, stability and robustness, maintenance of lysogenic state, and the induction lytic state are not fully understood. In this paper, a new method is adopted to account for the full stochasticity typical in small copy events and the exact steady state probability landscape of the genetic circuit of the switch network is computed. The stability and sensitivity of phage lambda switch and its robustness against perturbations derived from our model for wild type and mutants are consistent with experimental data. Our study has revealed likely mechanism of the phage switch network that was previously unknown.
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