Arabinose System Research Articles

The optimum conversion efficiency in nile blue arabinose system by photogalvanic cell

The Nile blue has been used as a photosensitizer with Arabinose as a reductant in photogalvanic cell for optimum conversion efficiency and storage capacity. Reduction cost of the photogalvanic cell for commercial utility. The generated photopotential and photocurrent are 816.0 mV and <TEX>$330.0{\mu}A$</TEX> respectively. The maximum power of the cell is <TEX>$269.30{\mu}W$</TEX> where as the observed power at power point is <TEX>$91.28{\mu}W$</TEX>. The observed conversion efficiency is 0.6095% and the fill factor 0.2566 has been experimentally found out at the power point of the photogalvanic cell, whereas the absolute value is 1.00. The photogalvanic cell so developed can work for 120.0 minutes in dark if it is irradiated for 200.0 minutes that is the storage capacity of photogalvanic cell is 60.00%. The effects of different parameters on the electrical output of the photogalvanic cell have been observed. A mechanism has also been proposed for the photogeneration of electrical energy.

Single Cell Kinetics of Phenotypic Switching in the Arabinose Utilization System of E. coli

Inducible switching between phenotypes is a common strategy of bacteria to adapt to fluctuating environments. Here, we analyze the switching kinetics of a paradigmatic inducible system, the arabinose utilization system in E. coli. Using time-lapse fluorescence microscopy of microcolonies in a microfluidic chamber, which permits sudden up- and down-shifts in the inducer arabinose, we characterize the single-cell gene expression dynamics of the araBAD operon responsible for arabinose degradation. While there is significant, inducer-dependent cell-to-cell variation in the timing of the on-switching, the off-switching triggered by sudden removal of arabinose is homogeneous and rapid. We find that rapid off-switching does not depend on internal arabinose degradation. Because the system is regulated via the internal arabinose level sensed by AraC, internal arabinose must be rapidly depleted by leakage or export from the cell, or by degradation via a non-canonical pathway. We explored whether the poorly characterized membrane protein AraJ, which is part of the arabinose regulon and has been annotated as a possible arabinose efflux protein, is responsible for rapid depletion. However, we find that AraJ is not essential for rapid switching to the off-state. We develop a mathematical model for the arabinose system, which quantitatively describes both the heterogeneous on-switching and the homogeneous off-switching. The model also predicts that mutations which disrupt the positive feedback of internal arabinose on the production of arabinose uptake proteins change the heterogeneous on-switching behavior into a homogeneous, graded response. We construct such a mutant and confirm the graded response experimentally. Taken together, our results indicate that the physiological switching behavior of this sugar utilization system is asymmetric, such that off-switching is always rapid and homogeneous, while on-switching is slow and heterogeneously timed at sub-saturating inducer levels.

Mathematical modeling of the low and high affinity arabinose transport systems in Escherichia coli

A mathematical model was developed for the low and high affinity arabinose transport systems in E. coli. The model is a system of three ordinary differential equations and takes the dynamics of mRNAs for the araE and araFGH proteins and the internal arabinose into account. Special attention was paid to estimate the model parameters from the literature. Our analysis and simulations suggest that the high affinity transport system helps the low affinity transport system to respond to high concentration of extracellular arabinose faster, whereas the high affinity transport system responds to a small amount of extracellular arabinose. Steady state analysis of the model also predicts that there is a regime for the extracellular concentration of arabinose where the arabinose system can show bistable behavior.

Negative auto-regulation increases the input dynamic-range of the arabinose system of Escherichia coli

BackgroundGene regulation networks are made of recurring regulatory patterns, called network motifs. One of the most common network motifs is negative auto-regulation, in which a transcription factor represses its own production. Negative auto-regulation has several potential functions: it can shorten the response time (time to reach halfway to steady-state), stabilize expression against noise, and linearize the gene's input-output response curve. This latter function of negative auto-regulation, which increases the range of input signals over which downstream genes respond, has been studied by theory and synthetic gene circuits. Here we ask whether negative auto-regulation preserves this function also in the context of a natural system, where it is embedded within many additional interactions. To address this, we studied the negative auto-regulation motif in the arabinose utilization system of Escherichia coli, in which negative auto-regulation is part of a complex regulatory network.ResultsWe find that when negative auto-regulation is disrupted by placing the regulator araC under constitutive expression, the input dynamic range of the arabinose system is reduced by 10-fold. The apparent Hill coefficient of the induction curve changes from about n = 1 with negative auto-regulation, to about n = 2 when it is disrupted. We present a mathematical model that describes how negative auto-regulation can increase input dynamic-range, by coupling the transcription factor protein level to the input signal.ConclusionsHere we demonstrate that the negative auto-regulation motif in the native arabinose system of Escherichia coli increases the range of arabinose signals over which the system can respond. In this way, negative auto-regulation may help to increase the input dynamic-range while maintaining the specificity of cooperative regulatory systems. This function may contribute to explaining the common occurrence of negative auto-regulation in biological systems.

The photochemical conversion of solar energy into electrical energy: Eosin–Arabinose system

A photosensitizer -Eosin and a reductant- Arabinose have been used in the photogalvanic cell for photochemical conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. The generated photopotential and photocurrent are 679.0 mV and 240.0 μA respectively. The maximum power of the cell is 162.96 μW whereas the observed power at power point is 73.08 μW. The conversion efficiency is 0.7026% and the fill factor is 0.2856 at the power point of the photogalvanic cell. The photogalvanic cell so developed can work for 85.0 min in dark if it is irradiated for 140.0 min i.e. the storage capacity of photogalvanic cell is 60.71%. The effects of different parameters on the electrical output of the photogalvanic cell have been observed. A mechanism has also been proposed for the photogeneration of electrical energy.

Timing and Dynamics of Single Cell Gene Expression in the Arabinose Utilization System

The arabinose utilization system of Escherichia coli displays a stochastic all-or-nothing response at intermediate levels of arabinose, where the population divides into a fraction catabolizing the sugar at a high rate (on-state) and a fraction not utilizing arabinose (off-state). Here we study this decision process in individual cells, focusing on the dynamics of the transition from the off- to the on-state. Using quantitative time-lapse microscopy, we determine the time delay between inducer addition and fluorescence onset of a GFP reporter. Through independent characterization of the GFP maturation process, we can separate the lag time caused by the reporter from the intrinsic activation time of the arabinose system. The resulting distribution of intrinsic time delays scales inversely with the external arabinose concentration, and is compatible with a simple stochastic model for arabinose uptake. Our findings support the idea that the heterogeneous timing of gene induction is causally related to a broad distribution of uptake proteins at the time of sugar addition.

The Coherent Feedforward Loop Serves as a Sign-sensitive Delay Element in Transcription Networks

Recent analysis of the structure of transcription regulation networks revealed several “network motifs”: regulatory circuit patterns that occur much more frequently than in randomized networks. It is important to understand whether these network motifs have specific functions. One of the most significant network motifs is the coherent feedforward loop, in which transcription factor X regulates transcription factor Y, and both jointly regulate gene Z. On the basis of mathematical modeling and simulations, it was suggested that the coherent feedforward loop could serve as a sign-sensitive delay element: a circuit that responds rapidly to step-like stimuli in one direction (e.g. ON to OFF), and at a delay to steps in the opposite direction (OFF to ON). Is this function actually carried out by feedforward loops in living cells? Here, we address this experimentally, using a system with feedforward loop connectivity, the l-arabinose utilization system of Escherichiacoli. We measured responses to step-like cAMP stimuli at high temporal resolution and accuracy by means of green fluorescent protein reporters. We show that the arabinose system displays sign-sensitive delay kinetics. This type of kinetics is important for making decisions based on noisy inputs by filtering out fluctuations in input stimuli, yet allowing rapid response. This information-processing function may be performed by the feedforward loop regulation modules that are found in diverse systems from bacteria to humans.

Thermal neutron dosimetry by optical rotation

Arabinose and sucrose solutions containing boric acid were irradiated in reactor-pile and the enhanced decrease in optical rotation in the presence of boric acid over that in its absence was correlated to integral thermal neutron flux. The induced activity in the sample and the level of dose on sample containers were evaluated. Post-irradiation effect on optical activity was followed and the equation connecting optical activity and dose was found to be linear in the range of 9×10 14−216× 10 14 neutrons in the case of arabinose system.

An l-arabinose binding protein and arabinose permeation in Escherichia coli

A search was made for proteins of the arabinose system which bind arabinose, as it is expected that the permease and possibly the C protein could be identified by arabinose binding. One protein was found and this is most probably part of the arabinose permease. It is inducible, can be removed from cells by osmotic shock and easily purified, and consists of one polypeptide of molecular weight 35,000. In these respects it is closely similar to proteins binding sulfate, leucine, and galactose (Pardee, Prestidge, Whipple & Dreyfuss, 1966; Anraku, 1968; Penrose, Nichoalds, Piperno & Oxender, 1968). Mutants were found with reduced ability to concentrate arabinose intracellularly but which still possessed the arabinose binding proteins. One mutant was found with a lowered level of binding protein. This strain is unable to concentrate any detectable amount of arabinose. None of the mutations affecting permeation of arabinose mapped in the threonine-leucine region where the arabinose genes A, B, C and D are located.