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Abstract:
We review the key role played by mathematical modeling in elucidating
two center-finding patterning systems in Escherichia coli: midcell
division positioning by the MinCDE system and DNA partitioning by the
ParABS system. We focus particularly on how, despite much experimental
effort, these systems were simply too complex to unravel by experiments
alone, and instead required key injections of quantitative, mathematical
thinking. We conclude the review by analyzing the frequency of modeling
approaches in microbiology over time. We find that while such methods
are increasing in popularity, they are still probably heavily
under-utilized for optimal progress on complex biological questions. (C)
2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access
article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecomnnons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).