Cis-Regulatory Modules Drive Dynamic Patterns of a Multicellular System

Abstract

How intracellular and extracellular signals are integrated by transcription factors is essential for understanding complex cellular patterns at the population level. In this Letter, by using a synthetic genetic oscillator coupled to a quorum-sensing apparatus, we propose an experimentally feasible cis-regulatory module (CRM) which performs four possible logic operations (ANDN, ORN, NOR and NAND) of input signals. We show both numerically and theoretically that these different CRMs drive fundamentally different dynamic patterns, such as synchronization, clustering and splay state.