Optimization of sugar utilization strategies employing regulated phenotypic heterogeneity

Bacteria can rapidly react to environmental changes by adapting gene expression of certain genes. We investigate the time-dependent response of sugar utilization systems in Escherichia coli on the single-cell level. We study both individual systems and the situation of two competing sugar utilization systems, with the goal to characterize properties that may have been optimized by evolution. Using microfluidic set-ups we expose bacterial cultures to systematically variable environments and use time-lapse microscopy and single cell tracking to acquire single-cell expression kinetics. In mathematical models using cost-benefit analysis and game theoretical concepts, we compare different regulatory schemes as strategies to cope with variable environments.