Biology & Information Technology Systems: Genomic Information Processing by a Virus-Host System

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

EIA-0130874 -John Yin -University of Wisconsin -Genomic Information Processing by a Virus-Host System The proposed research aims to advance biologically inspired computing by providing insights into the mechanisms and dynamic of genomic information processing for an experimentally well-characterized system. The system of study will be a computer simulation for the growth of bacteriophage T7 in Escherichia coli, a model virus-host system that integrates genetic, physiological, biochemical, and biophysical laboratory data spanning more than 30 years. The overarching aim of the study will be to identify and characterize modular features of integrated information processing during the simulated intracellular growth of the virus. More specifically, the work will entail defining measures of system performance under different host resource environments, quantifying the sensitivity of this performance to perturbations of pair-wise and higher order interactions between genetically-encoded functions, and extracting from these studies patterns of interaction that reflect modular features of biological information processing.