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Behavioral Phenotyping of Murine Disease Models with the Integrated Behavioral Station INBEST

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Behavioral Variability and Phenotypic Diversity in Bacterial Chemotaxis.

Adam James Waite^1,2, Nicholas W Frankel^1,3, Thierry Emonet^1,4

¹Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520;

Annual Review of Biophysics

|April 6, 2018

Summary

Cellular noise causes unpredictable behavior and diversity, impacting biological predictions. This review explores noise origins and effects in Escherichia coli chemotaxis, a model for signal transduction.

Keywords:

adaptation chemical sensing fluctuations navigation signal transduction single-cell behavior

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Area of Science:

Cellular Biology
Systems Biology
Microbiology

Background:

Living cells use signaling pathways to process external signals, but random fluctuations introduce variability.
This noise leads to behavioral variability in individual cells and phenotypic diversity among genetically identical cells.
Such variability complicates the prediction of cellular responses to identical signals.

Purpose of the Study:

To review experimental and theoretical advances in understanding the origin and consequences of noise in biological systems.
To examine noise in Escherichia coli chemotaxis as a model for signal transduction and behavior.
To discuss how cell-to-cell differences in protein abundance influence chemotactic abilities and population performance.

Main Methods:

Review of recent experimental and theoretical studies on cellular noise.
Analysis of the architecture and logic of the Escherichia coli chemotaxis system.
Examination of the relationship between protein abundance, individual chemotaxis, and population-level effects.

Main Results:

Noise in signaling pathways leads to both behavioral variability and phenotypic diversity in cells.
In Escherichia coli chemotaxis, cell-to-cell differences in protein abundance correlate with variations in chemotactic performance.
Phenotypic variability significantly impacts the overall performance of cell populations.

Conclusions:

Understanding cellular noise is crucial for predicting biological behavior and signal transduction.
Escherichia coli chemotaxis serves as a valuable model for dissecting the mechanisms and functional outcomes of noise.
Future research should address remaining open questions regarding the precise control and functional implications of cellular variation.