An Integrative Approach for Modeling and Simulation of Heterocyst Pattern Formation in Cyanobacteria Filaments
Fig 2
2-OG and cN indirectly interact through the GS/GOGAT cycle. Glutamine is transformed into glutamate by means of 2-OG through the 2-OG amidotransferase (GOGAT) while cN converts glutamate into glutamine through the glutamine synthetase (GS). The importance of the cycle in heterocyst differentiation is twofold. From one side, it constitutes the early one-cell sensor to nitrogen starvation: the absence of cN breaks the cycle down and 2-OG starts to accumulate, whose action leads to the cascade of processes that provoke the differentiation (see Fig. 1). Additionally, later during the differentiation, it processes the cN created by the heterocysts decreasing the levels of 2-OG. The latter is crucial for the formation of the heterocyst pattern (see Fig. 3).