Linear Superposition and Prediction of Bacterial Promoter Activity Dynamics in Complex Conditions
Figure 1
Schematic overview of workflow for measuring promoter activity dynamics and the analysis testing linear superposition of dynamics in different conditions.
(a) E. coli reporter strains were grown in defined media conditions in 96-well plates and promoter activity – the rate of GFP accumulation per cell – was found as a function of time. (b) Promoter activity dynamics was measured in four conditions and all of their possible pair, triplet and quadruplet combinations. (c) We tested whether the dynamics in a combined condition is a linear combination (weighted average) of the dynamics in each individual condition. We further asked whether the weights sum up to one, signifying a linear superposition. (d) Finally, we asked whether dynamics in triplet and quadruplet conditions can be predicted based on dynamics in pairs of conditions.