|
Showing 1 - 4 of
4 matches in All Departments
The new field of physical biology fuses biology and physics. New
technologies have allowed researchers to observe the inner workings
of the living cell, one cell at a time. With an abundance of new
data collected on individual cells, including observations of
individual molecules and their interactions, researchers are
developing a quantitative, physics-based understanding of life at
the molecular level. They are building detailed models of how cells
use molecular circuits to gather and process information, signal to
each other, manage noise and variability, and adapt to their
environment. This book narrows down the scope of physical biology
by focusing on the microbial cell. It explores the physical
phenomena of noise, feedback, and variability that arise in the
cellular information-processing circuits used by bacteria. It looks
at the microbe from a physics perspective, to ask how the cell
optimizes its function to live within the constraints of physics.
It introduces a physical and information based -- as opposed to
microbiological -- perspective on communication and signaling
between microbes. The book is aimed at non-expert scientists who
wish to understand some of the most important emerging themes of
physical biology, and to see how they help us to understand the
most basic forms of life.
Quorum sensing (QS) describes a chemical communication behavior
that is nearly universal among bacteria. Individual cells release a
diffusible small molecule (an autoinducer) into their environment.
A high concentration of this autoinducer serves as a signal of high
population density, triggering new patterns of gene expression
throughout the population. However QS is often much more complex
than this simple census-taking behavior. Many QS bacteria produce
and detect multiple autoinducers, which generate quorum signal
cross talk with each other and with other bacterial species. QS
gene regulatory networks respond to a range of physiological and
environmental inputs in addition to autoinducer signals. While a
host of individual QS systems have been characterized in great
molecular and chemical detail, quorum communication raises many
fundamental quantitative problems which are increasingly attracting
the attention of physical scientists and mathematicians. Key
questions include: What kinds of information can a bacterium gather
about its environment through QS? What physical principles
ultimately constrain the efficacy of diffusion-based communication?
How do QS regulatory networks maximize information throughput while
minimizing undesirable noise and cross talk? How does QS function
in complex, spatially structured environments such as biofilms?
Previous books and reviews have focused on the microbiology and
biochemistry of QS. With contributions by leading scientists and
mathematicians working in the field of physical biology, this
volume examines the interplay of diffusion and signaling,
collective and coupled dynamics of gene regulation, and
spatiotemporal QS phenomena. Chapters will describe experimental
studies of QS in natural and engineered or microfabricated
bacterial environments, as well as modeling of QS on length scales
spanning from the molecular to macroscopic. The book aims to
educate physical scientists and quantitative-oriented biologists on
the application of physics-based experiment and analysis, together
with appropriate modeling, in the understanding and interpretation
of the pervasive phenomenon of microbial quorum communication."
Quorum sensing (QS) describes a chemical communication behavior
that is nearly universal among bacteria. Individual cells release a
diffusible small molecule (an autoinducer) into their environment.
A high concentration of this autoinducer serves as a signal of high
population density, triggering new patterns of gene expression
throughout the population. However QS is often much more complex
than this simple census-taking behavior. Many QS bacteria produce
and detect multiple autoinducers, which generate quorum signal
cross talk with each other and with other bacterial species. QS
gene regulatory networks respond to a range of physiological and
environmental inputs in addition to autoinducer signals. While a
host of individual QS systems have been characterized in great
molecular and chemical detail, quorum communication raises many
fundamental quantitative problems which are increasingly attracting
the attention of physical scientists and mathematicians. Key
questions include: What kinds of information can a bacterium gather
about its environment through QS? What physical principles
ultimately constrain the efficacy of diffusion-based communication?
How do QS regulatory networks maximize information throughput while
minimizing undesirable noise and cross talk? How does QS function
in complex, spatially structured environments such as biofilms?
Previous books and reviews have focused on the microbiology and
biochemistry of QS. With contributions by leading scientists and
mathematicians working in the field of physical biology, this
volume examines the interplay of diffusion and signaling,
collective and coupled dynamics of gene regulation, and
spatiotemporal QS phenomena. Chapters will describe experimental
studies of QS in natural and engineered or microfabricated
bacterial environments, as well as modeling of QS on length scales
spanning from the molecular to macroscopic. The book aims to
educate physical scientists and quantitative-oriented biologists on
the application of physics-based experiment and analysis, together
with appropriate modeling, in the understanding and interpretation
of the pervasive phenomenon of microbial quorum communication.
The new field of physical biology fuses biology and physics. New
technologies have allowed researchers to observe the inner workings
of the living cell, one cell at a time. With an abundance of new
data collected on individual cells, including observations of
individual molecules and their interactions, researchers are
developing a quantitative, physics-based understanding of life at
the molecular level. They are building detailed models of how cells
use molecular circuits to gather and process information, signal to
each other, manage noise and variability, and adapt to their
environment. This book narrows down the scope of physical biology
by focusing on the microbial cell. It explores the physical
phenomena of noise, feedback, and variability that arise in the
cellular information-processing circuits used by bacteria. It looks
at the microbe from a physics perspective, to ask how the cell
optimizes its function to live within the constraints of physics.
It introduces a physical and information based - as opposed to
microbiological - perspective on communication and signaling
between microbes. The book is aimed at non-expert scientists who
wish to understand some of the most important emerging themes of
physical biology, and to see how they help us to understand the
most basic forms of life.
|
You may like...
The Warning
James Patterson, Robison Wells
Paperback
(1)
R242
Discovery Miles 2 420
1984
George Orwell
Hardcover
R615
Discovery Miles 6 150
Good Hope
Nick Clelland
Paperback
R350
R250
Discovery Miles 2 500
1984
George Orwell
Paperback
R228
R189
Discovery Miles 1 890
Ancestral
Charlie Human
Paperback
R290
R229
Discovery Miles 2 290
Star Bringer
Tracy Wolff, Nina Croft
Paperback
R280
R189
Discovery Miles 1 890
|