Evolution of Robustness and Cellular Stochasticity of Gene Expression

Gene expression varies widely in cells with the same genotype and environment [1],[2]. Predicting the patterns of stochastic cellular fluctuations remains an unsolved challenge. I propose that the degree to which varying cellular components combine to determine robust phenotypes may predict the amount of variability. Microbes provide excellent experimental models to analyze the relations between robust phenotypes and stochastic variability.