MODELING ESCHERICHIA-COLI - THE CONCEPT OF COMPETITIVE COHERENCE

Many of the characteristics of life are plainly evident. Others are no t. In principle, computer models might be devised to test whether a hy pothetical characteristic is likely to be a characteristic oi real lif e. Here, I propose that the bacterium Escherichia coli can be consider ed as passing through a series of states in which a distinct set of it s constituent molecules or 'elements' are active. The activity of thes e elements is deter mined by a competition between two processes. One oi these processes depends on the previous cell state whilst the other depends on the internal coherence of the developing state. The simult aneous operation oi these two processes I term 'competitive coherence' . To clarify and eventually test these related hypotheses, a possible computer model is outlined. (C) Academie des sciences/Elsevier, Paris.