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Originally published in Science Express on 25 August 2005
Science 23 September 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5743, pp. 2075 - 2078
DOI: 10.1126/science.1114383
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Reports

Phenotypic Diversity, Population Growth, and Information in Fluctuating Environments

Edo Kussell* and Stanislas Leibler

Organisms in fluctuating environments must constantly adapt their behavior to survive. In clonal populations, this may be achieved through sensing followed by response or through the generation of diversity by stochastic phenotype switching. Here we show that stochastic switching can be favored over sensing when the environment changes infrequently. The optimal switching rates then mimic the statistics of environmental changes. We derive a relation between the long-term growth rate of the organism and the information available about its fluctuating environment.

Laboratory of Living Matter and Center for Studies in Physics and Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, Box 34, New York, NY 10021–6399, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kussele{at}rockefeller.edu

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