The BaSysBio project aims at understanding the dynamic transcriptional regulation at a global scale in bacteria. A systems biology approach based on repeated cycles of mathematical model prediction and experimental validation is being developed to drive a quantitative understanding of the operation of complex living systems. In the past year, a large part of the BaSysBio efforts was focused on developing: 1) high throughput technologies enabling the quantitative measurement of cellular components; 2) mathematical models for large-scale transcriptional and metabolic control; 3) an information system to store, analyse and visualize the results;  and 4) rigorous standardisation of experimental protocols.

In this first issue of the BaSysBio Newsletter, six of the project’s major milestones are briefly introduced. More detailed and illustrated descriptions are also available in pdf format.

Future issues of the BaSysBio Newsletter will report other scientific and technological achievements, and provide news about the various aspects of the project’s life.

To view this newsletter, you can download the corresponding pdf files:

• Introduction to the Newsletter
• The glucose to malate shift: Intracellular metabolite concentrations, by Uwe Sauer - ETH, Switzerland
• Bacillus subtilis Tiling arrays, by Hanne Jarmer - DTU, Denmark
• A cell array reporting on gene expression in living Bacilus subtilis, by Anthony J Wilkinson – UOY, United Kingdom
• A pressing need for standardisation in systems-level studies on living cells, by Jan Maarten van Dijl – AZG, The Nederlands
• Development of databases for large-scale experiments, by Hans Peter Fischer – Genedata, Switzerland
• An essential signal transduction pathway controlling cell wall metabolism, virulence and biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus, by Tarek Msadek – IP, France