Members of our q-bioBDS team from the Faculty of Biology recently published a paper titled “Nonlinear regulatory dynamics of bacterial restriction-modification systems modulates horizontal gene transfer susceptibility” in the prestigious journal *Nucleic Acids Research* (IF 16.7, M21a+, ranked 6/313). Nucleic Acids Research is considered the leading journal in the field of fundamental molecular biology.

The paper explores the key role of bacterial restriction-modification (RM) mechanisms in regulating horizontal gene transfer, particularly in the context of antibiotic resistance. Using a combination of analytical and numerical methods, the authors show how regulation of the RM system can induce dynamic phenomena, such as bistability, allowing genetically identical bacterial cells to exhibit different levels of permeability for genetic material. These findings have important implications for understanding the evolution of bacterial populations and the spread of antibiotic resistance.

This work is part of a broader research project of our q-bioBDS project aimed at mathematical modeling of the mechanisms that cause heterogeneity in genetically identical bacterial populations. Similar topics, such as toxin-antitoxin systems, will be presented at the upcoming EMBL conference through presentations by our researchers.

You can see the work in the attachment.