In:
mBio, American Society for Microbiology, Vol. 6, No. 1 ( 2015-02-27)
Abstract:
By measuring individual mRNA production at the single-cell level, we investigated the lac promoter transcriptional transition during cell growth phases. In exponential phase, variation in transition rate generates two mixed phenotypes producing low and high numbers of mRNAs by modulating the burst frequency and size. Independent activation of the regulatory gene sequence does not produce bimodal populations at the mRNA level, while it does when activated together through the coordination of upstream/downstream promoter sequences (URS/DRS). Time-lapse microscopy of mRNAs for lac and a lac variant promoter confirm this observation. Activation of the URS/DRS elements of the promoter reveals a counterplay behavior during cell phases. The promoter transition rate coupled with cell phases determines the mRNA and transcriptional noise. We further show that bias in partitioning of RNA does not lead to phenotypic switching. Our results demonstrate that the balance between URS and DRS in transcription regulation is determining the population diversity.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2161-2129
,
2150-7511
DOI:
10.1128/mBio.02182-14
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Society for Microbiology
Publication Date:
2015
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2557172-2