Suppression and enhancement of transcriptional noise by DNA looping

Jose M. G. Vilar and Leonor Saiz

Phys. Rev. E 89, 062703 – Published 9 June 2014

Abstract

DNA looping has been observed to enhance and suppress transcriptional noise but it is uncertain which of these two opposite effects is to be expected for given conditions. Here, we derive analytical expressions for the main quantifiers of transcriptional noise in terms of the molecular parameters and elucidate the role of DNA looping. Our results rationalize paradoxical experimental observations and provide the first quantitative explanation of landmark individual-cell measurements at the single molecule level on the classical lac operon genetic system [Choi, L. Cai, K. Frieda, and X. S. Xie, Science 322, 442 (2008)].

Received 20 December 2013
Revised 24 February 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.062703

Authors & Affiliations

Jose M. G. Vilar^1,2,* and Leonor Saiz^3,†

¹Biophysics Unit (CSIC-UPV/EHU) and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
²IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain
³Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, 451 East Health Sciences Drive, Davis, California 95616, USA

^*j.vilar@ikerbasque.org
^†lsaiz@ucdavis.edu

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Issue

Vol. 89, Iss. 6 — June 2014

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Physical Review E

covering statistical, nonlinear, biological, and soft matter physics