Difference between revisions of "Welcome to the In-Silico Model of butyrolactone regulation in Streptomyces coelicolor"
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== About the Project == | == About the Project == | ||
| − | ''Streptomyces coelicolor'' are Gram-positive soil-dwelling bacteria, which are known as prolific source of secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics. As the end-products can be toxic even to the producing organisms, antibiotic production is carefully coordinated in the bacterial population. This is achieved through the use of | + | ''Streptomyces coelicolor'' are Gram-positive soil-dwelling bacteria, which are known as prolific source of secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics. As the end-products can be toxic even to the producing organisms, antibiotic production is carefully coordinated in the bacterial population. This is achieved through the use of SCB1-3, the diffusible signalling molecules of the γ-butyrolactone (GBL) family, in a manner analogous to acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-based quorum sensing (QS). The GBL regulatory system involves a small, yet complex two gene (ScbA and ScbR) network, which governs a bistable switch between the "on" and "off" states of antibiotic production. The mechanism of this network is not fully defined, although several alternative scenarios have been proposed. The aim of this project is therefore the design and analysis of a model which will successfully describe the GBL regulatory system and allow reliable predictions of its behaviour. The complete elucidation of this system could potentially lead to the design of robust and sensitive systems with significant applications as orthologous regulatory circuits in synthetic biology and biotechnology. |
== Description of the model == | == Description of the model == | ||
Revision as of 03:41, 22 September 2015
About the Project
Streptomyces coelicolor are Gram-positive soil-dwelling bacteria, which are known as prolific source of secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics. As the end-products can be toxic even to the producing organisms, antibiotic production is carefully coordinated in the bacterial population. This is achieved through the use of SCB1-3, the diffusible signalling molecules of the γ-butyrolactone (GBL) family, in a manner analogous to acyl homoserine lactone (AHL)-based quorum sensing (QS). The GBL regulatory system involves a small, yet complex two gene (ScbA and ScbR) network, which governs a bistable switch between the "on" and "off" states of antibiotic production. The mechanism of this network is not fully defined, although several alternative scenarios have been proposed. The aim of this project is therefore the design and analysis of a model which will successfully describe the GBL regulatory system and allow reliable predictions of its behaviour. The complete elucidation of this system could potentially lead to the design of robust and sensitive systems with significant applications as orthologous regulatory circuits in synthetic biology and biotechnology.
Description of the model
Several alternative scenarios for the mechanism of action of the GBL system have been previously proposed. Our aim is to create a unified model which will include them all and enable their parallel or combined analysis. The scenarios investigated are the formation of [1]
References
- ↑ S. Mehra, S. Charaniya, E. Takano, and W.-S. Hu. A bistable gene switch for antibiotic biosynthesis: The butyrolactone regulon in streptomyces coelicolor. PLoS ONE, 3(7), 2008.
