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A Pathway and Genetic Factors Contributing to Elevated Gene Expression Noise in Stationary Phase

Nicholas J. Guido ^*, Philina Lee ^*, Xiao Wang ^*, Timothy C. Elston  and J. J. Collins ^*

^* Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for BioDynamics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts; and Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Correspondence: Address reprint requests and inquiries to J. J. Collins, E-mail: jcollins{at}bu.edu.

Previous studies have identified factors associated with transcription and translation efficiency, such as promoter strength and mRNA sequences, that can affect stochasticity in gene expression. Here we present evidence for a pathway and associated genetic factors (namely, the ribosome modulation factor RMF and ppGpp) in Escherichia coli that contribute to heightened levels of gene expression noise during stationary phase. Endogenous cellular mechanisms that globally affect gene expression noise, such as those identified in this study, could provide phenotypic diversity under adverse conditions such as stationary phase.