Modelling regulatory adaptationof bacteria

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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.

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