Lambda-prophage induction modeled as a cooperative failure mode of lytic repression

Abstract

We analyze a system-level model for lytic repression of lambda-phage in E. coli using reliability theory, showing that the repressor circuit comprises 4 redundant components whose failure mode is prophage induction. Our model reflects the specific biochemical mechanisms involved in regulation, including long-range cooperative binding, and its detailed predictions for prophage induction in E. coli under ultra-violet radiation are in good agreement with experimental data.

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