32177 20250619084222.0 doi 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004129 sideral 90508 ART-2015-90508 eng Torres-Sánchez, A. An integrative approach for modeling and simulation of heterocyst pattern formation in cyanobacteria filaments 2015 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted Heterocyst differentiation in cyanobacteria filaments is one of the simplest examples of cellular differentiation and pattern formation in multicellular organisms. Despite of the many experimental studies addressing the evolution and sustainment of heterocyst patterns and the knowledge of the genetic circuit underlying the behavior of single cyanobacterium under nitrogen deprivation, there is still a theoretical gap connecting these two macroscopic and microscopic processes. As an attempt to shed light on this issue, here we explore heterocyst differentiation under the paradigm of systems biology. This framework allows us to formulate the essential dynamical ingredients of the genetic circuit of a single cyanobacterium into a set of differential equations describing the time evolution of the concentrations of the relevant molecular products. As a result, we are able to study the behavior of a single cyanobacterium under different external conditions, emulating nitrogen deprivation, and simulate the dynamics of cyanobacteria filaments by coupling their respective genetic circuits via molecular diffusion. These two ingredients allow us to understand the principles by which heterocyst patterns can be generated and sustained. In particular, our results point out that, by including both diffusion and noisy external conditions in the computational model, it is possible to reproduce the main features of the formation and sustainment of heterocyst patterns in cyanobacteria filaments as observed experimentally. Finally, we discuss the validity and possible improvements of the model. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FIS2011-25167 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/FIS2012-38266-C02-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ 4.587 2015 MATHEMATICAL & COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY 5 / 56 = 0.089 2015 Q1 T1 BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH METHODS 9 / 77 = 0.117 2015 Q1 T1 3.476 2015 Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience 2015 Q1 Computational Theory and Mathematics 2015 Q1 Ecology 2015 Q1 Molecular Biology 2015 Q1 Genetics 2015 Q1 Modeling and Simulation 2015 Q1 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics 2015 Q1 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Gómez-Gardeñes, J. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-5204-1937 Falo, F. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-9551-624X 2003 395 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Física Materia Condensa. Área Física Materia Condensada 11, 3 (2015), [18 pp.] PLoS Comput. Biol. PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY 1553-734X 1131824 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/32177/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 103764 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/32177/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:32177 articulos driver 2025-06-19-08:41:23 ARTICLE