A Multi-Scale Approach to Modeling E. coli Chemotaxis

A Multi-Scale Approach to Modeling E. coli Chemotaxis

Eran Agmon and Ryan K. Spangler

Abstract

The degree to which we can understand the multi-scale organization of cellular life is tied to how well our models can represent this organization and the processes that drive its evolution. This paper uses Vivarium—an engine for composing heterogeneous computational biology models into integrated, multi-scale simulations. Vivarium’s approach is demonstrated by combining several sub-models of biophysical processes into a model of chemotactic E. coli that exchange molecules with their environment, express the genes required for chemotaxis, swim, grow, and divide. This model is developed incrementally, highlighting cross-compartment mechanisms that link E. coli to its environment, with models for: (1) metabolism and transport, with transport moving nutrients across the membrane boundary and metabolism converting them to useful metabolites, (2) transcription, translation, complexation, and degradation, with stochastic mechanisms that read real gene sequence data and consume base pairs and ATP to make proteins and complexes, and (3) the activity of flagella and chemoreceptors, which together support navigation in the environment. View Full-Text

Keywords: Escherichia coli; chemotaxis; computational systems biology; multi-scale simulation; model integration

?Full Paper can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/22/10/1101

This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermodynamics and Information Theory of Living Systems

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