Reconciling kinetic and thermodynamic models of bacterial transcription

The study of transcription remains one the centerpieces modern biology with implications in settings from development to metabolism evolution disease. Precision measurements using a host different techniques including fluorescence and sequencing readouts have raised bar for what it means quantitatively understand transcriptional regulation. In particular our understanding simplest genetic circuit is sufficiently refined both experimentally theoretically that has become possible carefully discriminate between conceptual pictures how this regulatory system works. This motif, originally posited by Jacob Monod 1960s, consists single repressor binding promoter site inhibiting transcription. paper, we show seven distinct models so-called simple-repression based on thermodynamic kinetic thinking, can be used derive predicted levels gene expression shed light often surprising past success models. These are then invoked confront variety data mean, variance full distributions, illustrating extent which such cannot distinguished, suggesting two-state model distribution burst sizes as most potent describing motif.