title: Role of functionality in two-component signal transduction: a stochastic study.
abstract: We present a stochastic formalism for signal transduction processes in a bacterial two-component system. Using elementary mass action kinetics, the proposed model takes care of signal transduction in terms of a phosphotransfer mechanism between the cognate partners of a two-component system, viz., the sensor kinase and the response regulator. Based on the difference in functionality of the sensor kinase, the noisy phosphotransfer mechanism has been studied for monofunctional and bifunctional two-component systems using the formalism of the linear noise approximation. Steady-state analysis of both models quantifies different physically realizable quantities, e.g., the variance, the Fano factor (variance/mean), and mutual information. The resultant data reveal that both systems reliably transfer information of extracellular environment under low external stimulus and in a high-kinase-and-phosphatase regime. We extend our analysis further by studying the role of the two-component system in downstream gene regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta, 92 A P C Road, Kolkata 700 009, India.
authors.forename: Alok Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Maity
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Bose Institute, 93/1 A P C Road, Kolkata 700 009, India.
authors.forename: Arnab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bandyopadhyay
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Calcutta, 92 A P C Road, Kolkata 700 009, India.
authors.forename: Pinaki
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaudhury
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Bose Institute, 93/1 A P C Road, Kolkata 700 009, India.
authors.forename: Suman K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Banik
mesh_terms: D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013269:Stochastic Processes
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins