在不确定的环境中,表型多样性可能有利于生存。然而,随着环境不确定性的减少,具有不同表型的相对优势降低。这里,我们展示了大肠杆菌种群如何整合多种化学信号来调节感官多样性,以响应环境中每种配体患病率的变化。测量单个细胞中的激酶活性,我们量化了不同背景刺激混合物中对各种化学引诱物的敏感性分布。我们发现当配体无竞争性结合时,人口独立地调整每个信号的感官多样性,当信号的环境浓度增加时,多样性降低。然而,在竞争性配体中,种群一次只能减少一个配体的感觉多样性。数学建模表明,感觉多样性调节有利于大肠杆菌种群,通过调节多少细胞随着其患病率的变化而按比例跟踪每个信号。
In uncertain environments, phenotypic diversity can be advantageous for survival. However, as the environmental uncertainty decreases, the relative advantage of having diverse phenotypes decreases. Here, we show how populations of E. coli integrate multiple chemical signals to adjust sensory diversity in response to changes in the prevalence of each ligand in the environment. Measuring kinase activity in single cells, we quantified the sensitivity distribution to various chemoattractants in different mixtures of background stimuli. We found that when ligands bind uncompetitively, the population tunes sensory diversity to each signal independently, decreasing diversity when the signal\'s ambient concentration increases. However, among competitive ligands, the population can only decrease sensory diversity one ligand at a time. Mathematical modeling suggests that sensory diversity tuning benefits E. coli populations by modulating how many cells are committed to tracking each signal proportionally as their prevalence changes.