Robustness from flexibility in the fungal circadian clock

Ozgur E Akman, David A Rand, Paul E Brown, Andrew J Millar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Robustness is a central property of living systems, enabling function to be maintained against environmental perturbations. A key challenge is to identify the structures in biological circuits that confer system-level properties such as robustness. Circadian clocks allow organisms to adapt to the predictable changes of the 24-hour day/night cycle by generating endogenous rhythms that can be entrained to the external cycle. In all organisms, the clock circuits typically comprise multiple interlocked feedback loops controlling the rhythmic expression of key genes. Previously, we showed that such architectures increase the flexibility of the clock's rhythmic behaviour. We now test the relationship between flexibility and robustness, using a mathematical model of the circuit controlling conidiation in the fungus Neurospora crassa.
Original languageEnglish
JournalBMC Systems Biology
Volume4
Issue number88
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Robustness from flexibility in the fungal circadian clock'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this