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The Lactose Operon

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Simple Mathematical Models of Gene Regulatory Dynamics

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Abstract

Glucose is the preferred carbon and energy source for E. coli, as well as for many other organisms. Although this bacterium can also feed on other sugars, it only does so when glucose is absent. A typical population of E. coli doubles its size approximately every hour in presence of a pure sugar like glucose or lactose. The existence of the lactose operon was conjectured by Jacob and Monod after observing that a population of E. coli is initially unable to digest lactose when fed with a mixture of glucose and lactose.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Michael C. Mackey

  2. Unidad Monterrey, Cinvestav del IPN, Apodaca, NL, Mexico

    Moisés Santillán

  3. Institute of Mathematics, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

    Marta Tyran-Kamińska

  4. Departamento de Matemáticas, Cinvestav del IPN , Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Eduardo S. Zeron

Authors
  1. Michael C. Mackey
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  2. Moisés Santillán
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  3. Marta Tyran-Kamińska
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  4. Eduardo S. Zeron
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Mackey, M.C., Santillán, M., Tyran-Kamińska, M., Zeron, E.S. (2016). The Lactose Operon. In: Simple Mathematical Models of Gene Regulatory Dynamics. Lecture Notes on Mathematical Modelling in the Life Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45318-7_5

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