Award details

Modelling regulatory adaptationof bacteria

Reference	BBS/E/F/00044405
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Jozsef Baranyi
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	952,495
Status	Current
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2010
End date	31/03/2017
Duration	11867 months

Abstract

This project is about the stochastic and dynamic modelling of bacterial kinetics, especially the some so-far-unexplored bacterial lag as a special case of regulatory adaptation. We work on the modelling of lag, using data generated by single cell and molecular microbiology techniques. Modelling adaptive responses represents a continuation of the work characterising the efforts of our research group in the last ten years. The models we have developed focus on bacterial responses to environmental changes at cell population and single cell levels. Now the transcriptional regulatory networks of Salmonella enteritica is studied in stressful conditions, while also using Escherichia coli as model organisms, during balanced growth and in transition phases. A commonly assumption in modelling cellular physiology is that cells try to maximize their growth potential as a function of the environment. In mathematical models of cell kinetics, this appears as an objective function, while basic laws like conservation of mass and energy, appear as constraints. Mathematically, this can be formulated as an optimisation problem. When the environment changes, it’s not only the constraints (e.g. limiting factors, or the slowest rate in the series of processes) that alter the problem but also the objective function can change. The transition phase during which cells adjust to the new environment depends on the history of the cells. We analyse and model the transition phase at single cell and molecular level on Salmonella enteritica and Escherichia coli.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Microbiology
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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