中国物理B ›› 2012, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (9): 98701-098701.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/21/9/098701

• INTERDISCIPLINARY PHYSICS AND RELATED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY • 上一篇    下一篇

A population-level model from the microscopic dynamics in Escherichia coli chemotaxis via Langevin approximation

贺卓然a, 吴泰霖a, 欧阳颀a b, 涂豫海c   

  1. a State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
    b Center for Theoretical Biology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
    c IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA
  • 收稿日期:2012-04-06 修回日期:2012-05-10 出版日期:2012-08-01 发布日期:2012-08-01

A population-level model from the microscopic dynamics in Escherichia coli chemotaxis via Langevin approximation

He Zhuo-Ran (贺卓然)a, Wu Tai-Lin (吴泰霖)a, Ouyang Qi (欧阳颀)a b, Tu Yu-Hai (涂豫海)c   

  1. a State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
    b Center for Theoretical Biology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;
    c IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York 10598, USA
  • Received:2012-04-06 Revised:2012-05-10 Online:2012-08-01 Published:2012-08-01
  • Contact: Ouyang Qi E-mail:qi@pku.edu.cn

摘要: Recent extensive studies of Escherichia coli (E. coli) chemotaxis have achieved a deep understanding of its microscopic control dynamics. As a result, various quantitatively predictive models have been developed to describe the chemotactic behavior of E. coli motion. However, a population-level partial differential equation (PDE) that rationally incorporates such microscopic dynamics is still insufficient. Apart from the traditional Keller-Segel (K-S) equation, many existing population-level models developed from the microscopic dynamics are integro-PDEs. The difficulty comes mainly from cell tumbles which yield a velocity jumping process. Here, we propose a Langevin approximation method that avoids such a difficulty without appreciable loss of precision. The resulting model not only quantitatively reproduces the results of pathway-based single-cell simulators, but also provides new inside information on the mechanism of E. coli chemotaxis. Our study demonstrates a possible alternative in establishing a simple population-level model that allows for the complex microscopic mechanisms in bacterial chemotaxis.

关键词: bacterial chemotaxis, population-level model, Langevin approximation

Abstract: Recent extensive studies of Escherichia coli (E. coli) chemotaxis have achieved a deep understanding of its microscopic control dynamics. As a result, various quantitatively predictive models have been developed to describe the chemotactic behavior of E. coli motion. However, a population-level partial differential equation (PDE) that rationally incorporates such microscopic dynamics is still insufficient. Apart from the traditional Keller-Segel (K-S) equation, many existing population-level models developed from the microscopic dynamics are integro-PDEs. The difficulty comes mainly from cell tumbles which yield a velocity jumping process. Here, we propose a Langevin approximation method that avoids such a difficulty without appreciable loss of precision. The resulting model not only quantitatively reproduces the results of pathway-based single-cell simulators, but also provides new inside information on the mechanism of E. coli chemotaxis. Our study demonstrates a possible alternative in establishing a simple population-level model that allows for the complex microscopic mechanisms in bacterial chemotaxis.

Key words: bacterial chemotaxis, population-level model, Langevin approximation

中图分类号:  (Cell locomotion, chemotaxis)

  • 87.17.Jj
87.17.Aa (Modeling, computer simulation of cell processes) 87.18.Mp (Signal transduction networks) 87.18.Vf (Systems biology)