Noise permeates biology on all levels, from the most basic molecular, sub-cellular
processes to the dynamics of tissues, organs, organisms and populations. The functional …

Clonal populations of microbial cells often show a high degree of phenotypic variability
under homogeneous conditions. Stochastic fluctuations in the cellular components that …

Random cell-to-cell variations in gene expression within an isogenic population can lead to
transitions between alternative states of gene expression. Little is known about how these …

The soil-dwelling bacterium Bacillus subtilis differentiates into distinct subpopulations of
specialized cells that coexist within highly structured communities. The coordination and …

Feedback loops have been identified in a variety of regulatory systems and organisms.
While feedback loops of the same type (negative or positive) tend to have properties in …

Phenotypic diversification plays a central role in evolution and provides species with a
capacity to survive environmental adversity. The profound impact of random molecular …

Cellular differentiation is triggered by extracellular signals that cause target cells to adopt a
particular fate. Differentiation in bacteria typically involves autocrine signaling in which all …

Surfactin is a biosurfactant produced by Bacillus subtilis. The srfA operon, Sfp gene, and two
quorum sensing systems are required for its production. The master regulator spo0A also …

Bacteria serve as the central arena for understanding how gene networks and proteins
process information and control cellular behaviors. Recently, much effort has been devoted …

The most sophisticated survival strategy Bacillus subtilis employs is the differentiation of a
subpopulation of cells into highly resistant endospores. To examine the expression patterns …