Minimal model of transcriptional elongation processes with pauses

Jingkui Wang (1) , Benjamin Pfeuty (1) , Quentin Thommen (1) , M. Carmen Romano (2, 3) , Marc Lefranc (1)

1 PhLAM - Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules - UMR 8523
2 ICSMB - Institute for Complex Systems and Mathematical Biology [Aberdeen]
3 School of Medical Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen

Fundamental biological processes such as transcription and translation, where a genetic sequence is sequentially read by a macromolecule, have been well described by a classical model of non-equilibrium statistical physics, the totally asymmetric exclusion principle (TASEP). This model describes particles hopping between sites of a one-dimensional lattice, with the particle current determining the transcription or translation rate. An open problem is how to analyze a TASEP where particles can pause randomly, as has been observed during transcription. In this work, we report that surprisingly, a simple mean-field model predicts well the particle current for all values of the average pause duration, using a simple description of blocking behind paused particles.

Mots clés: ubiquitous pauses; Transcription; Translation; TASEP

Domaines: Bio-Informatique, Biologie Systémique [q-bio.QM]

Jingkui Wang, Benjamin Pfeuty, Quentin Thommen, M. Carmen Romano, Marc Lefranc. Minimal model of transcriptional elongation processes with pauses. Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2014, 90, pp.050701(R). ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.90.050701⟩. ⟨hal-01084267⟩