Relatively slow stochastic gene-state switching in the presence of positive feedback significantly broadens the region of bimodality through stabilizing the uninduced phenotypic state
Fig 4
Major transit pathways and transition rates between fully repressed and fully dissociated operon states.
(A, B) The major transit pathways between fully repressed and fully dissociated operon states in the uninduced and induced phenotypic states. (C-F) Transition rates between fully repressed and fully dissociated operon states in the uninduced and induced phenotypic states with very low and high intracellular inducer concentrations respectively. The transition rates from the fully repressed operon state to the fully dissociated state in the uninduced phenotypic state are the lowest, which stabilizes the uninduced state, even outside of the parameter range of deterministic bistability.