A Simulation of Synthetic agr System in E.coli

Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) is an important human pathogen. Its strong infection ability benefits from the quorum-sensing system agr (accessory gene regulator). In order to eliminate S.aureus from the environment, an engineered E.coli was designed. It can sense the extracellular AIP (auto-inducing peptide) and then, as a response, produce Lysostaphin to kill S.aureus. To characterizing how E.coli sense S.aureus and secrete Lysostaphin, a mathematical model was developed. According to the model, it is at least 2.5 hours for the system to sense the AIP (S.aureus) and then produce enough Lysostaphin to kill the S.aureus, and therefore keep the AIP concentration at a relative low condition.