Self-similar power law behavior around CP of mRNA expression and barcode genes.

<p>Panel A): First row- frequency distribution (bin size = 0.1) of mRNAs (<i>n</i> = 440 mRNAs) at 10 min shows a unimodal to bimodal change around critical point (0.090 <<i>nrmsf</i>< 0.092). The <i>x</i>-axis represents the natural log of mRNA expression, <i>ln</i>(<i>ε</i>(10min)) for a specific range of <i>nrmsf</i>: unimodal (left panel: 0.105 <<i>nrmsf</i>< 0.109), flattened unimodal (middle panel: 0.090 <<i>nrmsf</i>< 0.092), and bimodal (right panel: 0.084 <<i>nrmsf</i>< 0.086). The y-axis represents frequency of expression. Second row- the corresponding probability density profile in the regulatory space—expression vs. expression change in log scale with probability density (color bars) confirms the unimodal to bimodal transition through flattened unimodality, where a black arrow points to the bifurcation of low-expression state (LES). Panel B): First row—the frequency distribution of barcode genes (<i>n</i> = 182 barcodes) shows a unimodal to bimodal change around a critical point (0.108 <<i>nrmsf</i>< 0.112) for unimodal (left), flattened (middle) and bimodal (right) distributions. Second row—this is confirmed by probability density profile in the regulatory space. Both mRNAs and barcode genes on chromosomes reveal the existence of self-similar power law (scaling) behavior around CP analogous to that of the whole mRNA expression (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128565#pone.0128565.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a>), which is an essential characteristic of SOC.