21 October 2022
Benjamin Machta
Department of Physics
Yale University
All cells must use information gathered from the environment to guide behaviors. A simplest example is run-and-tumble chemotaxis, where receptors measure concentrations of attractant and repellent molecules and use this information to navigate by controlling their flagella. In this talk I will discuss recent efforts to understand (1) how sensing and signaling fidelity limits chemotactic performance, (2) whether sensing approaches physical bounds set by the stochastic arrival of particles by diffusion, and (3) the energetic costs of intracellular communication. These examples use information theory to quantitatively connect molecular details to the behaviors and functions they implement.